Off the Island
by rawrkissme
Summary: You can take the boys off the island, but what happens when you take the island from the boys? A group of British schoolboys find themselves struggling to survive in the middle of the ocean. Slash. Jack/Simon. Slight Simon/Ralph. COMPLETE!
1. Chapter 1

Diclaimor: I do not own Lord of the Flies, that is owned by Sir William Golding.

Without an Island...

SIMON'S POV

I came to a realization that might as well have been a national emergency. My mind was completely sure this was a world-stopping, time pausing event that was sure to change the alignment of the planets.

I lost my library book.

It wasn't so much as I would get in trouble with the library, this was not the first time I lost a book, but the fact I was boarding a plane for the United States in ten minutes and stuck with nothing to do. I sighed with disappointment and fiddled with my ticket, wondering what would have happened in that Harry Potter book.

My school was on a trip to Washington D.C. so we could study American history. It was part of the Freshman World History course I had chosen to take, which was fine with me, except I was stuck without any friends for the trip. My entire class was full of loud, obnoxious kids who would have nothing to do with a quiet guy like me.

Our class began the boarding process, darting around clad in blazers to find which friends they wanted to sit with and shuffling their way into the line forming in front of me. I grabbed my green suitcase by the handle and rolled it to the back of the line, right behind the worst guys in school.

They called themselves The Hunters, I'm not sure why and I don't particularly care, and they were the loudest, stupidest, most "manly" guys in school. Every school had these types of guys all they ever talked about were girls and sports, but that wouldn't matter so much if they were not complete idiots; I'm not lying, they bragged about getting straight D's on their report cards. They were the kind of guys who just _loved_ to pick on me.

Their leader was the school football captain slash most-annoying-redhead named Jack Merridew. Everyday in gym class Jack would give me a hard time for being the most scrawny boy in class. He called me "shawty" (oh, how creative) saying it worked both ways for my stature and my girlie-ness. Did the gym teacher ever notice the harassment? Of course not! Jack was the star football player and my teacher was the coach. Not only that, but a couple of times Jack rounded up the football team and got them to toss me in the trash (again, what creativity) laughing the entire time. Every time I saw him, a fire began to burn in my stomach of complete disgust.

I tried to look invisible but Jack saw me anyway. A gleam in his eyes, which I dared to meet for a moment, told me there was going to be trouble. I was right.

"Hey shawty," said Jack mock-friendly. His friends turned and giggled with cave-man laughs. I began to pick dirt out from under my nails.

"Hi Jack," I whispered, barely audible. Part of me was screaming _why aren't you standing up against this jerk? _and the other part was screaming _run! _Jack snickered.

"What, your boyfriend couldn't make the trip?" Jack chuckled. His friends began to make faces and punch each other on the shoulders. I rolled my eyes despite my fear.

"I don't have a boyfriend," I whispered again, staring out the window at the plane. The feeling of dread was replaced by anxiousness to get the line going.

"What, not popular with the guys? Maybe if you grew your hair out and dressed like the true girl you are things might work out. Don't you agree?" Jack purred. I bit my lip and stared at the ground. My fear was battling with anger: _Tell the guy off already! _and _Wait, no, you have an entire trip for this guy to torture you! _I picked at a loose string on my blazer.

"Or-or maybe if you grew an inch or two!" Jack laughed with his friends. Why were they laughing? He wasn't even funny!

"What no comment?" Jack asked challengingly. _Don't say anything this guy can hurt you… Just ignore him and- oh who cares. _

"You want a comment Jack?" I said angrily "Than how about this: I have figured out what you need," His friends shoved Jack around like idiots with wild grins on their faces.

"And what's that?" Jack asked, an arrogant smirk on his face.

"You. Are. Pale," I said, saying my words slowly so his pea-brain could comprehend. Jack's face to went from high-and-mighty to confused.

"So?" he asked as his friends looked around at each other for an explanation. I took a deep breathe.

"My advice to you : come out of the closet. You will get more sun," I smiled triumphantly as Jack's friends broke out into laughter, for once not aimed at me but at Jack. Jack's face turned as red as his hair with a look of mortification. He opened his mouth to say something, but shut it again like a fish gaping for air. Suddenly, his eyes turned murderous.

"Shut up!" he growled at his friends. The took one look at his horrifying face and piped down quickly.

"You are so dead," Jack said. My floating feel of triumph took a nosedive in my stomach as Jack and his goons began to step towards me. "_Excuse_ me!" yelled a flight attendant next to the plane entrance. She looked aggravated and I assumed she had been trying to get our attention for a while, as the line was gone and our group was still standing across the room. Jack gave me one last look before slouching off towards the plane.

JACK'S POV

I didn't know which was worse: the fact I was embarrassed in front of my friends or the fact that I was relieved Simon didn't have a boyfriend.

I entered the plane and snagged a seat in the back, telling the other Hunters not to sit with me. The guys listened, being the loyal dogs they were, without questioning why I needed three seats all to myself. Call me crazy, but I wished they would have asked, because than I could have told them I was claustrophobic, and they would not have thought I had saved a seat for Simon. Because, honestly, I _was_ claustrophobic, but it just so happened that there were no seats left for Simon but the one by me. Fates a bitch.

He looked pale as he sat in the aisle seat, the farthest from my window seat. I felt an overwhelming anger boil in my stomach, as well as other feelings. _No, no, no, I'm just angry. Think about Katie, or Miley, or some other pretty girl. Yeah, full lips, a small waist, and her green eyes…. Wait. I don't know any girls with green eyes. The only person I know with green eyes is- Damn! _

"Please buckle your seatbelts," said the cold, intercom voice. I rolled my eyes and fiddled around with the buckle on the belt until it was secure around my midsection. The plane began to move forward, picking up speed every couple of yards and I felt as if my brain was being pushed into the back of my scull as the plane began to lift. I saw Simon break into a nervous-sweat next to me; for some reason, I wanted to take his hand and tell him that it was going to be fine, that planes were perfectly safe and-

I growled to myself angrily and turned to look out the window. It was going to be a long ride.

SIMON'S POV

"Ehmagod!" I squeaked out as the plane jumped with turbulence. What I meant to say was "Oh my God," but somehow it had turned into one word and I wanted to slap myself for sounding like a valley- girl.

"Ehmagosh!" I said unintentionally as the plane decided to do another bunny hop. I felt like I was riding a frog, not a plane, and I had been tossed around from the minute the plane left the ground. It was half an hour into the ride and I was surprised I hadn't upchucked my non-existent breakfast yet. The plane began to shiver, so of course unintended whimpering began to escape from my mouth. Stupid planes, stupid scary, bouncing, flying machines of death! I hated planes like I hated my fainting spells: things I had no control over but still had to live with. On top of that, I was cold, tired, and sitting next to my worst enemy!

The plane stopped its vibrating and a sigh of relief whooshed from me.

"Will you _please_ shut up," Jack spat angrily. I turned to him, opened my mouth to say something, but shut it quickly, and decided to blink a couple of times instead. It was the first time he had said anything to me all plane ride, and I was pretty sure some smart- aleck comment would lead to me being thrown out the emergency exit. Not only that, but a blush was creeping up my neck for being so… pitiful. I guess it was just the control thing: I didn't like being unable to do something myself. In that case, I hated how I couldn't control the fact I was scared or at least understand _why_ I was scared. Not like Jack Merridew would understand that, he seemed confident about everything he did.

I twiddled my thumbs mindlessly and stared at the back of the plane seat in front of me. If only I had the window seat, at least I would have some clouds to stare at instead.

It was than that the plane lit up brightly, a crack echoed off the ceiling, and the plane began to dive. My stomach twisted, turned, flipped, and a scream escaped my lips.

A blackness began to tinge the edges of the world and the screams of the fellow passengers got fainter and fainter. Somebody, somebody lunged at me, or fell on me, strong arms wrapped around me protectively. An irrational feeling of safety rushed over me, giving my body the chance to give into the spell. It turned pitch black.

Author's note: No, this is not a continuation of Underclassmen. This is just the result of my fruitless efforts to get back to the original island setting.


	2. Chapter 2

**I do not own Lord of the Flies, that is owned by Sir William Golding. This chapter is dedicated to all those who reviewed my stories and messaged me. Feedback helps me write better! **

JACK'S POV

Simon bobbed up and down with the life raft, so I could not tell if he was breathing. Roger looked over my shoulder, peering down at Simon.

"Is he breathing?" Roger asked solemnly. I leaned back and turned my head away from Simon.

"You check," I said. I scooted to the far end of the life raft, watching as my classmates began to emerge from the wreckage, dog paddling towards the various life preservers and rafts. I leaned my back against the orange rubber, staring up at the storm clouds running away in the sky. Those damn storm clouds! A bit of lightening flashed teasingly, a bird flipped over the shoulder when an enemy walked away.

I felt cold as I watched Roger bend over Simon's motionless body. I rubbed my hands over my arms to push down the goose bumps that had obviously come from the cool breeze of the sea, _not_ apprehension about Simon.

Roger turned to me grimly.

"He's not breathing," Roger muttered.

SIMON'S POV

_I'm cold. Why is it so dark? Where am I? _I stood up quickly and tried to yell out, but no sound came out. I was standing in a dark space, unable to say anything or hear anything. Some invisible chains choked me, I could barely breathe, and something kept me glued to the floor. Not that I would have moved anyway, for all I knew I was standing on the edge of a cliff.

I stayed this way, confused, scared, and cold, until I light began to form in front of me. At first, it was but a spec, but it began to widen and glow. The light began to paint itself colors, shapes began to form. The chains slowly fell off my body, and I could feel a cool breeze and hands pressed against my chest….

JACK'S POV

One time, I had a dream I would press my lips against Simon's. It was a horrendous and awful dream that I tried to erase from my memory by replaying at least a thousand times over and over again. Because that is the only way to erase dreams: watching them over again until the little tape recorder holding the dream breaks.

Anyway, when I had that dream I did not imagine it like the moment I _really_ pressed my lips against Simon's.

His heart was still beating and Roger hadn't known CPR, but I did, so I had no other choice than to help the stupid kid. My open mouth was against his as I slowly breathed air into his lungs, silently begging him to wake up.

_I'm taking some of my life from within me and letting it slowly into his lungs…. Wait, where the hell did that come from? _I thought as I began to pump at his small chest.

I pulled back and looked at small, frail Simon. His green eyes popped open and he let out a gasp in time with my sigh of relief. His eyes darted around the raft and finally landed on me with a cloudy look of confusion, gratitude, and fear.

"Jack?" he squeaked abruptly. I wiped my mouth with the back of my hand.

"Simon," I said plainly. Simon sat up and saw Roger staring curiously over my shoulder.

"Hi," he said quietly. I crossed my arms and turned my head to the side, staring at my reflection in the water.

"How's it going?" I growled. _Wow, way to show the intelligence Jackie. _

"I'm not quite sure," said Simon.

SIMON'S POV 

"Ralph said everyone's okay. That is, except for the pilot," Jack said as he bobbed up in the water. Beside me, Roger muttered a curse word.

"Is there anything left from the plane? Like, a radio or something?" I asked. Jack held up a finger, as if to say "One minute" and dived back into the water. I watched as his dark figure shot out towards the other lifeboat, which was about a block's length away. Unfortunately there was only one set of paddles, and it was getting dark so no one bothered to bring the boats together yet.

Ralph was one of those semi-popular kids who kept out of trouble and went with the flow. He had been sitting up front when the plane crashed, so everyone turned to him for information on what had happened. Since Jack wouldn't let me swim myself ("I don't want you passing out again," "Why not?" "Because giving CPR to you was nasty!") I was communicating to Ralph through him. By this time the sun had nearly set, and only a sliver of yellow peaked up from the horizon, making everything covered in an eerie shadow. Roger sulked at the opposite end of the raft, bent over like a gargoyle with shadows sweeping across his sharp features. At last, a dark figure began to make it's way back to the boat, and Jack broke the surface. He drew in a sharp breathe, rubbed the salt water off of his face, and blinked.

"First Aid kit. Three flashlights. And floatation devices," Jack said.

"Alright…. What about-"

"No more questions. I'm bloody tired," Jack said, hauling himself back on the boat. Roger shot us a glare as the boat rocked.

"I'm out of here," he said in a low tone. Jack gave him one of his famous evil looks. I shrank back from the situation, hoping I could make myself invisible.

"What do you mean your out of here?" Jack said threateningly. Roger smirked.

"I'm going to Ralph's raft," he said simply. Before Jack could say another word, Roger dived into the water with his clothes still on. Jack watched silently with a sour face as Roger swam away.

"I hope he gets eaten by a shark," Jack muttered to himself, sounding extremely similar to an angry toddler. I rolled my eyes.

Without saying anything, I inched towards were Roger once sat, pulling off my blazer and bunching it into a ball. I was about to lay down to sleep when Jack grabbed my arm.

"And where do you think your going?" he said. I snatched my arm away from his, and gave him my most threatening look possible. Who did he think he was, trying to control me like I was a little kid? At least _I _wasn't throwing a tantrum.

"To sleep. Do you have a problem with that? Or would you rather have me stay up all night so I can listen to you bitch about how it was _such_ a bother to save my life?" I snapped. Much to my surprise, Jack's face looked hurt for a second before resuming it's resentment.

Jack muttered something about "Should have followed Roger," before turning his back to me and laying down on the opposite side of the boat. I curled up in a ball, propped my head atop my blazer, and wrapped my arms around my bare chest to keep warm. My mind fell in and out of foggy dreams, mainly involving the events of the day. It may have been minutes, seconds, or even hours before I woke up to the pitch black and roll of the ocean. First, I panicked because I couldn't remember where I was. When I calmed down, my eyes adjusted to the light that was pouring from the moon, nature's lamppost. A sense of loneliness and fear washed over me, but than I felt something warm brush my toes. It was Jack's leg.

Without a second thought, I crawled up to him, stilled dazed and half asleep. I could see the outline of his face in the dark, could hear his inviting soft breathing, and his red hair shown in the moonlight. I lay beside him, turned my back to him, and reached over to catch his arm. I looped it over me like a blanket and the comfort brought rest to my soul; I closed my eyes.

**Author's note: Wow, this has been gathering dust in my computer for ages. I totally love going back to Simon/ Jack conflict! Thanks for all of the writers who inspired me with their amazing stories, the fanfic community for LOTF is small but mighty! Updates for this story may be kind of slow, I usually edit this and work out the plot a little more than my other stories to ensure good quality. Review!**


	3. Chapter 3

**I do not own ****Lord of the Flies****. That belongs to Sir William Golding. **

JACK'S POV

I was having a wonderful dream. It was one of those dreams where I saw very little, but felt a lot. My vision was blurry and my eyes felt as if they were only half open, but I saw glimpses of black hair and pale skin. Simon.

I nuzzled the warm creature beside me, and felt soft skin run against my lips. I inhaled deeply, taking in the scent of the young boy's sweetness. Oh, how many times before had I dreamt of how he would feel in my arms, but for some reason, that dream was the most vivid of them all. Simon sighed contently.

But suddenly, my mind caught up with my body and I realized I wasn't sleeping. My eyes popped open and my body tingled with a feeling of panic. It was like all the times when I was tired in morning so I ignored my alarm clock and than half an hour later it would hit me that I was late, waking me up immediately. I yanked my arms away from Simon, who gave a small sound of protest sleepily, and literally jumped to the other side of the raft. The raft dipped beneath me with the sudden change of weight; Simon's side bouncing up in return. The pressure was so strong it flung sleeping- Simon into the air, and he fell out of the raft, landing in the water with a splash.

I scanned the horizon to make sure none of the other boys had seen my little cuddle-session with Simon, but once again my slow mind caught up with my body and I realized what had happened.

That stupid kid was drowning again.

SIMON'S POV

I was having a horrible dream. It was one of those dreams where I saw very little, but felt a lot. My body was flying through the air, and I felt out of control, like I had been catapulted over the edge of a cliff.

My eyes came open right as my body made contact with water. _What? _my mind screamed. Cool water rushed over me, than spiraled around and flipped my feet above my head. I screamed, but only a watery tone came out of my mouth, along with a stream of bubbles. My body whipped around, salt-water stung my blurry vision, and I breathed in painfully, water choking me. My knees got pushed up by the current and banged against my forehead. I panicked, wildly waving my arms about trying to find something to grab onto, as my lungs screamed like they were about explode in a burst of fire.

I was sure I was going to die so I prayed to God for an angel to come and save me, when suddenly something grabbed me by the scruff of my neck. The force pulled me higher and higher until my head broke the surface.

Sweet oxygen filled my lungs, and all I could think about was how I had taken breathing for granted. I open my eyes, tears springing up from the salt water and gratitude for whoever had saved me. The person let go which sent me back under the water for second until I got my bearings. I treaded in a circle to face my wonderful angel of savior, but instead locked eyes with an angry looking boy with the devil's fiery red hair.

JACK'S POV 

"W-what…." Simon looked at me with unsure eyes, trying to decide if I was to be thanked or insulted. I turned my head to the side and stared down. Water splashed as Simon hoisted himself out of the water and tumbled back into the raft, but I refused to watch.

"Jack," Simon said softly. I huffed and finally looked up, waiting for his stupid, sappy thank-you that would make me want to punch his lights out.

"Yes?" I mumbled, trying to seem completely uninterested. _Oh great, here we go, one of those princess-saved-by-the-prince moments that is going to make me gag _I thought. Simon stood up slowly and approached me with his face void of expression.

He stood so close to me, I felt the water drip off him and onto my bare feet. I looked down at his still blank face, and saw the little specks of gold in his eyes, which surprised me. The details of his face were perfectly clear in the morning sunshine, and I began to examine him because of his close proximity. His wet hair seemed to shine even though it was a sleek black, his girly-long eyelashes had tiny strings of water droplets on them, and his bright red lips were slightly parted. I didn't quite understand why I noticed these things. It was a strange moment for me, because the words in my brain had shut off and I was only filled with some unexplainable feeling that wasn't bad nor good, but something in the back of my mind said he was going to kiss me.

I was shocked when his fist made contact with my face.

SIMON'S POV 

A string of cuss words escaped my mouth as I watched the towering red head fall at my feet.

"What the bloody hell were you thinking, throwing me into the _bloody_ ocean? I could have drowned, you incompetent moron!" I screamed at the top of my lungs. Jack looked up at me and his blue eyes met mine.

Oh. My. God. I just punched Jack Merridew.

That flash of irrational, stupid anger vanished instantly, and fear began to prickle in my stomach. What had I been thinking? This was completely unlike me, it was as if some other person had taken over my body and forced me to be violent. I looked down at my bleeding knuckles, trying to understand if the entire situation had been real.

Jack continued to stare at me, shell shocked, and we both stayed that way for a while until a weird trumpet sound filled the air. I jumped up and squeaked out an "Ehmagawd," which caused Jack to growl. I looked out at the horizon where the noise had sounded from and saw that the other lifeboats where paddling their way over there, their small figures breaking the pale sunshine. Jack and I stayed still, leaving me with nothing to do but lick the salt water off my lips nervously.

"I hit myself with a paddle by accident. You slept on the other side of the raft, but rolled into the water in your sleep. And most of all: I _never _gave you CPR yesterday. Got it shawty?" Jack said with a flat voice holding the threat of anger about to boil over. I swallowed, nodded, and picked up a paddle.

Paddling there was not an easy process. Jack had muscles already built up from football, which made the task of rowing all the easier for him, while I was as scrawny as could be. Our distribution of force on either side of the rubber raft was uneven, so we began to turn in circles. At one point, my paddle was sucked in by the current, and Jack made me dive back in the water to get it right as I was almost dry. That was the only time he talked to me the entire trip.

The boat stopped short as we hit a sandbar, and even that small of a jolt made me fall. That rush of anger returned, but this time it was directed inwardly, because I hated that feeling of being out of control. Why did I have to be born so weak and scrawny? I felt loathing boil in my stomach as I saw Jack easily jump onto the sandbar and pull the entire raft into the shallow water. Jealously raged through me, because life was just _so_ much easier for a big, popular guy like him. He never got picked on, or pushed around, or felt lonely, or fainted. He had an easy, pampered life, and he never had to deal with all of the struggles of not being able to accept your weaknesses like I did. Jack was confident, vain even. It made me hate him even more.

The bottom of the boat scraped onto the sand, and I watched as the other boats formed around us in a sort of semi-circle. There were four other boats aside from the one Jack and I shared, and most were crammed with people. Two boats filled with liluns were tied together and sitting at the front of the boats were the twins, Samneric, each taking one raft. The boat next to them was filled with the Hunters, who were goofing around as usual, not even noticing Jack. The last boat was placed in the middle of the semi-circle, only carrying a single blonde boy and a fat kid. The fat kid polished his glasses with the blazer he still wore, while most of the other kids had discarded their's long ago, and the blonde held a pinkish-white shell in his hand. I knew that boy; it was Ralph. He stood tall and proud, looking out at the meeting like a ruler. He seemed to radiate confidence, but his warm brown eyes lured you in to think he was kind. I gagged internally.

To think, I used to have a crush on him.

Jack sat on the front of the boat, leaving his feet dangling in the water. By this time the sun was turning a solid yellow color, and I was nearly expecting it to turn into a baby's face and begin to giggle. Wow, maybe the heat was starting to get to me.

Ralph held up the shell-thing for silence. He gave everyone a dazzling smile, like we were at a choir meeting back at home, not in the middle of the frickin' ocean.

"Uh, hi. Well, it seems that we are all alone out here," he said, his voice growing stronger as he went on "And I believe our pilot is dead," The big D-word set of a titter in the crowd, but once again Ralph held up the shell.

"Now, it may be awhile until we get rescued, so we will have to survive. I swam around the wreckage this morning, and I am relieved to find we have two cases of bottled water," Ralph said. The liluns didn't seem to understand the huge sigh of relief that swept through the bigger kids, which was audible to the entire group, and I was surprised I hadn't thought of that before. With all that had gone on, I hadn't realized what danger we were in until that very moment. I shivered.

"But the thing is, we have to have rules. We have to work together to survive out here as long as we can," Ralph said.

"Why don't we elect a chief?" suggested a voice from the crowd. Ralph shrugged.

"Sure, I guess," he agreed.

"I elect Jack," said one of the Hunters, Maurice. Jack smiled cockily, and it was like someone had flicked his power switch "on" with the idea of being above others.

A flood of thoughts entered my mind, and I felt like I was being bombarded by the onslaught of problems. I could _not_ let Jack become chief. There were a number of obvious reasons regarding his dreadful personality as well as brutality (which I knew well from my dumpster days) that would be awful leadership qualities and there was also the problem of who would share a raft with me. _What? Why do I care if Jack switches rafts… I'd be fine. He is nothing but a jerk, and don't forget he tried to __**drown**__ me this morning! _I thought. But something, something nagged me. It was like a smudged reminder written in pen on my arm; I had no clue what it meant but I knew it was important. Maybe it had something to do with the whole CPR thing….

Regardless, a soft voice arose from me.

"I elect Ralph," I whispered. At first, none of the boys heard me, so I spoke up.

"I-I elect Ralph," I said. The whole group turned to stare at me, and Ralph gave me one of _those_ smiles. The you-seem-nice-we-have-no-history smile that he always gave me at school. It made me nearly regret my election.

"Okay. Anyone else want to elect?" Ralph said. The group was silent.

"I guess we will have a vote," The business of voting went on, which excited the liluns to no end since that felt grown up, but I began to grow dreary. Ralph ended up winning, much to my relief, but than I saw Jack's face. He didn't quite look angry, just shocked. It ended up that the liluns outnumbered the Hunters, and since Ralph was… well _Ralph_… the liluns all voted for him.

Jack looked at me with resentment, like it was all my fault he lost, or that I was the cause of all his petty problems. I looked away as that feeling of fear seeped into my stomach, but inside my mind laughed. _Serves you right._

**Author's note: Thanks so much everyone for the amazing reviews. Gosh, I totally love this story! You have no idea how many homework assignements I avoided to work on this (fanfiction, my biggest excuse). I really feel like this story is starting to heat up! This was a bit of a filler chapter, but I promise the next one will have some more fluff and hopefully I'll get some of the survival stuff started. Please, please, please review because it always puts a smile on my face! Oh, and by the way, if anyone is looking for a beta, I would be happy to help. I've never beta-ed before and I really want to try it. Alright, alright, I'm done blabbering. Thanks! **


	4. Chapter 4

_**This chapter is dedicated to MerridewLover and Canadino. Thanks for the ah-mazing reviews!**_

**I do not own Lord of the Flies. That is owned by Sir William Golding. **

_JACK'S POV_

I sat poised at the edge of the raft with my hands out in front of me. Sweat beads formed around my neck, one sliding down my shoulder and landing in the ocean. Salt water meeting salt water. The very thought only made the dryness in my mouth more unbearable.

The heat beat down on my reddened back, making my skin feel tight although it was covered in a sheet of sweat and my hands where poised in the same position they had been in for hours. I watched. I waited. The hunt was on.

At last, the water beneath me changed from the stillness I had been staring at for what seemed to be forever. A fish darted into my view and without hesitation I lunged at it. My fingers wildly grabbed at the water, feeling around for the slimy creature without a single thought. I felt a brush of a tail across my arm, the head of the creature hit my knuckles, but I saw the fish dart off back where it had came. I lifted my arms out of the water, turned around, and slumped into the raft.

I bit my lip, tasting the blood that seeped out of the dry cracks from being chapped. My hand instinctively came to my water bottle, but I pulled back quickly. It was already half drunk, and our poor excuse for a chief had only rationed each of us one bottle per raft, two for the rafts filled with liluns._ That doesn't even make any sense! There are at least five guys on the Hunter's raft, and only Simon and I on this one _I thought idly. My mind was running slowly, like the speed of rubbing two pieces of sand paper together, though honestly, anything at that point could be described as sandpaper. My lips. My mouth. My burnt skin.

By the look of the sun, it was about 3 o'clock. The liluns had finally stopped playing in the water, so I had attempted to catch a fish with my bare hands while they napped. I had already come across five fish, and caught a whooping zero. Although my mind said I should have kept trying before the liluns woke up, my aching body told me to lie down.

I crawled under the tarp that Simon and I used for shade, a blue plastic sheet that I found floating near the wreckage. Upon entering the tarp, I saw Simon laying there with his eyes wide open, sweat dripping down his face.

"What are you doing up?" I asked drowsily, my voice lacking it's usual tone of resentment. It was too hot for anyone to stay mad.

"Thinking," said Simon in a near-whisper. I took that as enough of an invitation. I crawled under the tarp, slightly pushing Simon to the side to make room.

"Budge up," I said. He scooted over and I lay down beside him. My shorts were crusty from the dried salt water, so even the slightest change in posture made the fabric rip at my skin. Beneath the tarp, it was more muggy and hot than it was outside, but at least I could escape the rays of the sun.

I closed my eyes and thought of home. I didn't really miss my family, school, or even my friends who had abandoned me since we crashed. The Hunters must have thought that I was in charge of Simon or something, because they had not even attempted to interact with me at all. Even at the meeting I saw them staring at me, but not once making an attempt to approach me.

I didn't care. The Hunters had been the people I hung out with at school, but I never really considered us friends. Yes, Roger and I had some moments of "friend-bonding" , but aside from that the group just talked and joked around. We had all come together simply because we were all popular, and that was what everyone had expected us to do.

But I did miss society, with air conditioning, a proper bed, food, and water. I squeezed my eyes shut, trying to block out the alluring picture of a running faucet that had popped into my mind.

"Jack," croaked Simon. I bristled, a rush of annoyance running through me because I felt I was just about to fall asleep.

"What," I said, not sounding nearly as annoyed as I had hoped for. Simon suddenly went silent.

I considered going right back to sleeping, but decided Simon would probably wake me up again. Besides, it was too hot to actually sleep. I flipped over, causing the tarp to crinkle and saw Simon staring off into space with glassy green eyes.

"What," I repeated. Simon broke out of his trance and looked up at me. He opened his mouth to say something, but closed it again like a fish gasping for breath. He shut his eyes for a second, and wrapped his arms around his bare midsection.

The air was quiet between us, but I felt something rattle in my stomach while watching Simon. I emulated his movement and wrapped my arms around my waist, trying to crush down that butterflies that had hatched.

Simon looked up at me again, and my stomach flipped. He sighed and wiped some sweat off his forehead.

"Nothing," he said "Forget it," Simon awkwardly pushed the tarp away, and the boat rocked as he crawled away from me. I sighed angrily, and closed my eyes to go to sleep.

SIMON'S POV

The heat was getting to me. The mugginess under the tarp was like a fog that had entered my head through my ears, misting my brain like it was Big Ben. I couldn't even remember what I was going to say, the words in my mind kept melting in the heat.

I stumbled out on the raft, squinting at the sudden bright sunlight, and did not hesitate to dunk my feet into the water. It was as warm as bath water, but I still shivered and began to pour it over my head. The water glistened and danced in the sunlight, taunting me. I let a few drops slide into my parched mouth, but recoiled at the salty taste.

I felt I truly understood the meaning of _water, water everyone but not a drop to drink._

My heart ached for home. I wished I could talk to my mum once more, ask her about her new boyfriend or how my cat was doing. I wanted to lay down on my dorm room bed and feel the cool air rush down from the window next to me. But most of all, I longed to drink buckets and buckets of water, straight from the tap.

JACK'S POV

After a long day of doing nothing, the sun finally went down and night fell. The air felt a little bit cooler, my headache finally went away, and I began to feel like a human again.

The round bend of the sun was gone, but a pale yellow glow still remained on the horizon while the other direction was a deep navy blue. I emerged from the tarp for the first time in hours and found Simon curled up in the corner of the boat sound asleep. Even with a shadow cast over his face, I could still see how red his skin was from sleeping in the sun all day. A pang of guilt went through me, since it was probably my fault he left the tarp, but I shrugged it off because that was not my problem. _He_ was the one who made the decision to leave.

The other rafts began to come to life, nocturnal creatures waking up and greeting the welcomed darkness. I heard some of the littleuns crying for their parents, watched our supposed-chief drink from his bottle of water, and saw one of the twins splash into the water. Despite the horrendous day that had just occurred, I felt a little bit more content than I had before. At least the sun was gone.

I decided it would be a good time to bathe myself, what with the cool air and concealing darkness. I crawled slowly to the other side of the raft, being careful not to wake Simon, and stuck my feet in the water to make sure we hadn't floated over the side of the sandbar. Earlier that day I had taken the rope that hung off the front of the raft and secured it under a rock so I wouldn't have to paddle the raft back to the sandbar every time a wave went through, like everyone else had been doing. Ralph later instructed everyone to do the same, pretending it was his idea. It was just another reason why I was beginning to dislike our chief.

I jumped in the thigh-deep water and scanned the perimeter, to make sure no one was looking. I wasn't insecure about my body or anything, I just didn't want any of the boys to stare at me when I was stark naked because….. Because they were _boys_. And that would be creepy. I finally pulled off my underwear, careful not to get it wet in the seawater, and tossed it back in the raft. I lowered myself into the water until my chest was submerged and began to rub the dried sweat off my body. Quietly, I hummed a tune I learned in choir, scooped up a handfuls of water on my head, and rubbed the back of my neck. The water was a nice heat, just the right amount of warm and cool, and I felt more comfortable than I had all day. Had it not been for the scratchy, cotton feeling I had in my mouth, I would have been nearly content.

A splash to my right made me jump. I spun around instantly, ready to make a grab for another fish, but was shocked to find Simon standing in the water. He coughed awkwardly.

"H-hi," he said "Its just me," Yes, of course it was _just_ him. Why couldn't that twit leave me alone for five minutes? It wasn't just the fact that we completely hated each other or that he always found a way to put himself in trouble so _I_ had to save him that made my skin crawl. It was _because _he made my skin crawl that I couldn't stand to be around him.

"Clear off. I'm bathing," I said exasperatedly. I couldn't really tell, but it looked like Simon's red face almost got redder. He ran his hands through his hair.

"Yeah, me too. Um…." he gave a shy smile before breezily pulling off his shorts like it was nothing. Without thinking, I gasped and put my hands over my eyes.

"Blimey, Simon! What are you doing?" I said.

"Well, I need to bathe too! And it's getting late. Besides, what's the big deal? We're both boys," said Simon. _The big deal? I can't even stand to be around you when your fully clothed, and now your naked? I mean….. God. I'm really losing it _I thought.

I turned my back to Simon, trying to pretend he wasn't there.

"So, Jack, uh… did you catch anything?" said Simon conversationally. I clenched my jaw.

"No," I replied. The water behind me splashed a little and I heard a spitting sound.

"Oh, well, no big deal," said Simon "At least we have water to drink." There was a pause as Simon waited for me to comment, and when I didn't he went on.

"I got a blooming awful sunburn," he said. When I still didn't comment, I heard Simon dunk his head beneath the water and come back up. He spoke again.

"I wonder how much water we have left? Maybe Ralph will-"

"Why are you so talkative, huh? What gives?" I said, turning around. Simon's eyes turned wide, and he looked back down in the water.

"Look, Jack, I know you don't like me but…. We're stuck out here together. We might as well make the best of it," he said. I rolled my eyes.

"So, you decided the only way to bond with me by interrupting while I bathed?" I grumbled. To my surprise, Simon laughed.

"Sure, lets go with that," he giggled. I tried to keep a solemn face, but couldn't help but smile a little myself. Simon looked out at the horizon, which was now turning from a pale yellow to a light blue.

"It's getting late. We better get back on the raft before the sharks start to come out," he said. Without hesitation, Simon turned and began to pull himself onto the raft before I could even turn my head, and I saw his nudity. I looked up at the sky, trying to erase the images from my brain.

But like my dreams, I would be replaying that picture in my brain all night.

SIMON'S POV

I had officially gone batty. That, or I had a death wish I was unaware of because I knew that once I let the words come out of my mouth, Jack was going to kill me. But I knew I had to say them.

Jack attempted to arrange the tarp into some sort of bed, as I neatly folded my blazer into a square to use as a pillow. I picked up our rationed bottle of water and took one last sip; it was like the world went in slow-motion as the cool water ran over my tongue. It took all my power to leave some water for Jack. I handed him the bottle and he took the last swing.

After this, he flopped down on his "bed" making the raft bob and looked up at the full moon. I stared at his figure in the moonlight, trying to find the perfect way to phrase this.

"Hey, Jack," I said. Jack sighed sleepily.

"What?" he asked. I looked down and scraped a bit of sand off my leg with my nail.

"Would you mind if…. Well…. Uh, you see I…" I swallowed hard "Jack, would it be alright if I slept near you?" There was a suddenly silence and I wondered it Jack had fallen asleep.

My heart hammered in my chest, waiting for him to freak out on me and throw me back in the ocean. I knew it was bonkers, but the truth be told I was more afraid of the dark than I was of Jack at that point. Yes, Jack was a jerk. But I had made up my mind that, if we were stuck on the boat together, we might as well get along. Not best friends, but allies or at least not-enemies.

A single word broke my train of thought, and at first I hadn't heard it.

"What was that?" I asked.

"Fine," Jack mumbled. I stayed were I was, wondering if I had heard correctly.

"Fine?" I repeated. Jack scoffed.

"Yes, _fine_. Now get over here before I change my mind," Jack said. I shook my head like I was clearing my mind and crawled up next to him.

I turned my back to Jack, but positioned my legs so they were close enough to his that I could feel the heat radiating off him. I propped my head on my makeshift pillow and closed my eyes.

Much to my surprise, I felt a strong arm wrap itself around me. My eyes popped open.

"Jack, what are you doing?" I asked. Jack coughed.

"Look, we are probably going to end up this way anyways, like last time," Jack said. I thought about that for a second and remembered that I had actually slung Jack's arm around my waist myself last time. And than he had thrown me overboard. So really, I should have told him that it was fine and to get his hands off of me because I didn't need him to hold me while I slept.

But instead, I nuzzled my head against his arm and fell into a peaceful sleep.

**Author's note: Oh my goshness, this took me soooo long to write. But it was worth it! I had so much fun writing the fluffy stuff. I actually had to do some research when I wrote this, first on a website for British slang and another by watching three episodes of "I Shouldn't Be Alive" to figure out how to describe dehydration. This chapter is more filler-ish than I had orignally intended, but I promise the plot will pick up a little more as time goes on. I apologize for my grammar. Please review!**


	5. Chapter 5

**I do not own ****Lord of the Flies****, that belongs to Sir William Golding. **

**Warning: Gross, Man vs. Wild type of survival methods. **

JACK'S POV

I was having an Edward Cullen moment.

"Jack…." said Simon in his sleep. I stayed absolutely still, like I was sitting on the edge of the raft waiting to catch a fish, but my heart was hammering in my chest. It was still night time, luckily, and I had woken up because of nightmares. With the dark sheet of night covering the eyes and ears of the other boys, I could sit around listening like a stalker as a boy I hated murmured my name. Just like a certain, 200 year old vampire sitting at the bedside of a 17-year old girl.

"Mmm…. Jack…." said Simon. My mind began to race with excitement, not disgust. Under usual circumstances, I would wonder endlessly about why I didn't feel disgust, but in the dark of night with no one around I didn't feel the need to analyze my thoughts. It was like a secret that I kept from myself, the kind I could only bury out of the back of my mind once in a blue moon. It was sinful, horrible, but I enjoyed listening to Simon dream about me.

The small boy stirred in my arms, making me tense up. When he settled, he gave a sleep-giggle that was so sweet I couldn't stand it. He sighed contently.

_What is he dreaming about me? Whoa, this is interesting. Do I talk in my sleep like that? Does he hear me? Dear lord, what if he heard me say __**his**__ name during my last dream! _I thought.

I closed my eyes and fell back asleep, knowing that in the morning I would have thought this was all a dream. Or at least that is what I would tell myself.

SIMON'S POV

I knew it was a good sign when I woke up to the sound of angry cussing. Perfect.

"Jack," I murmured sleepily "What's wrong?" I opened my eyes and was hit with blinding sunlight from a blindingly awful world. A momentary rush of sadness came over my heart when I realized I was still in the middle of the ocean. My stomach growled angrily and I had to wrap my arms around my waist to help numb the sharp pang of hunger.

"Look how far we have floated from the group! This is just smashing," Jack grumbled, quite gutted. I peered out and saw the group, merely specs on the horizon.

"Well, it's a good thing we woke up," I said, trying to be optimistic. Jack scowled, but remembered our agreement to be civilized and kept his mouth shut.

"I'll get the paddle," he sighed. Soon we were making steady progress towards the group, but without any water (since it was morning and we hadn't gotten our ration) and plenty of heat I could tell the trip was quite tiring for Jack.

"Jack, I'm fine, I can help," I said, trying to stand up and reach for the oar. Before I could even make it across the boat, Jack pushed me down in a rough manner and swatted my hands away.

"No, you will get tired and have another spell," Jack insisted. I crossed my arms and sighed.

"Bloody hell, Jack! Who are you, my mum?" I snapped. After another irritated sigh, I tried to take a calmer approach.

"Look, I just don't want you to do all of the work," I said, my tone softer. Much to my relief, Jack gave a small smile and shook his head ruefully.

"It's fine," he chuckled "How about this, I'll let you go get our water,"

"Oh yes, that's difficult. I have to haul an entire bottle," I muttered sarcastically. Jack laughed at my bitterness breathily, but than focused back on rowing.

A few minutes later we reached the sandbar, but we stopped at Ralph's raft first to fetch our water before heading to our usual spot.

"Hey Jack," said Ralph cheerfully. He paused and gave a fake smile. "Simon."

"Ralph." I replied. Jack shot me a questioning look, one of his eyebrows raised. I grimaced.

"Here you go," said Ralph, bending down to shuffle through the supplies. There wasn't much to sort through, so he pulled out the water bottle quickly and held it out to me.

"Day 4, here we come," said Ralph, still using his "charming-leader" voice that made my empty stomach churn. I reached out and took the water, our eyes meeting for a split second. Green and brown. The colors of land.

It made sense, really, since out history took place on soil. From the garden were we had our first kiss, to the tree I carved our names on, and my teardrops that fell on the rain-soaked ground when he broke my heart.

I snatched the water to my body and Jack began to paddle away. With the raft floating away steadily, I let myself turn around. Ralph was staring after me, his face no longer plastered with a fake smile but melancholy curiosity. I felt my heart squeeze with the need to comfort him, but my mind remembered how he hurt me. I turned my back and watched as knackered Jack struggled to paddle.

The edges of the world began to turn brown, and my mind was starting to blue words and pictures. I teetered slightly and even in my haze I saw Jack jump up with alarm.

"Simon? Are you alright?" he asked. Sporadic flashes of black crossed my eyes and my knees gave out. The last thing I saw was Jack's blue eyes looking down at me as he held me in his arms.

Sometimes, during my spells, I dreamt. Usually my dreams were nightmares filled with an evil monster called the Lord of the Flies, falling off of high towers, or being tied to a post helplessly. But this dream was different; in fact it wasn't a dream, but a memory.

_We met in art club. I had been working on my latest sketch of a rosebush that grew outside the school; red full blooms dotted with wilting yellow leaves. It was amazing that such perfection could withstand the winds of upcoming fall and when he came sauntering up, the same applied. His blonde hair was made more golden by the bright October sun, his stride was confident but not cocky, and his deep chocolate eyes could melt your heart with their warmth. _

_I instantly fell in love. _

_He met me at the rosebush, cradling his camera near his stomach. _

"_Mind if I take some pictures?" he asked. I nodded shyly, my heart trying to climb up my throat. Much to my surprise, he began to take snapshots of me sketching the bush. I blushed a deep red and Ralph laughed. _

"_That's good, now your face compliments the roses," he said. That was how it started. _

_Flash-forward a month later; we are inseparable friends but I want us to be more. He seems to be everywhere; a character in my dreams, his name written all over my notebook, and that's when I carved his name in a tree near the school. We went to homecoming with a group of his friends, but than he took me out to the school's courtyard during one of the slow songs and we talked. _

"_I just want to try something," he said. Before I could even begin to wonder what that meant, his lips were on mine, warm and sweet. It was like a wonderful version of my fainting spells; being out of control, but more like flying apposed to falling. _

_The following week, though, he completing ignored me. No texts. No calls. He wouldn't even look at me in the hallway. Finally, I got fed up and approached him as he stood waiting for his ride after art club. It was drizzling out and a cold wind blew that chilled me to the bone. I asked him what had happened and told him how confused I was about our relationship. He replied with only one word answers at first, but soon tensions rose and we were full out yelling at each other. With each angry word, it seemed the rain would fall harder and harder until it was full-out pouring. _

"_You wanna know what Simon? I realized when I kissed you that I don't like you. I __**never **__will either! We are boys, and boys aren't suppose to kiss boys," Ralph yelled. Tears began to pour down my face and I ran away. My heart had broken, shattered glass laying at my feet, but no one cared to pick up the pieces. _

My eyes fluttered open and I saw Jack staring down at me, like he was debating whether or not to give me CPR again. My breath caught in my throat, because he looked so different than I had seen him before. His red hair swept over his eyes, heart shaped freckles, and all around bright animated face were actually…. handsome. But what really surprised me were his eyes. Green and Blue. The colors of the ocean. How ironic, considering the circumstances.

I smiled calmly and Jack backed up hastily.

"Um, how are you feeling?" he asked.

"A lot better, actually," I replied.

JACK'S POV

Noon had come around, but while most of the boys decided to take a kip, I chose to fish. As usual, the sun was blazing and my spirit deteriorating, but at least there were not a bunch of liluns mucking about, scaring off the prey.

I stood completely still, my legs submerged in the water. This was not only because it was blazing hot out, but because I would be more likely to catch a fish if I didn't have to lean over our boat. A salty snake slithered down the side of my face, but I didn't make a motion to swipe it off. Every part of my body ached with exhaustion; my legs from standing so still, my stomach panging with hunger, and of course my horribly dry, cracked lips. It took all my power to keep from collapsing and I repeated the phrase "food" in my head to keep myself from giving up.

A fish swam into my line of vision, and I was about to make a jump at it when I heard a voice behind me.

"Jack," whispered Simon. At first I disregarded the voice, thinking that Simon was sleep-talking again, but than he went on.

"Don't lunge at it yet," Simon whispered, barely audible.

"Why?" I whisper-asked back.

"Just trust me. I'll tell you when to jump," he said. I bit my lip, debating whether I should trust my own gut or his reason. Every part of me screamed to listen to myself, but when it came right down to it, my actions had not been successful yet. I felt my stomach pang again, a reminder of how important this was.

The fish carelessly swam about, probably searching for food like me, it's tail swishing like a fan lazily. Its scales reflected off bits of sunlight, but all I could think about was the meat beneath those scales that made my mouth water. My muscles twitched with anticipation and I held my breath.

At last, it swam so close it's fin brushed my leg and Simon whispered:

"Now." Immediately, I lunged forward, splashing my hands into the water before the fish could even try to move. It flipped around and crashed into my legs, which is when I grabbed it's body firmly and pulled it out of the water. I held the squirming fish tightly in the air. "I did it!" I yelled excitedly. I tossed the slippery fish in the raft, making Simon jump back in surprise. Quickly, I grabbed a rock from under the water and bounded into the raft. Adrenaline pumped through me, and my stomach panged even more than ever at the idea of having food.

It took me a second to chase the flipping fish as it tried to get out of the raft, but the sides were too big for it to jump over and I could tell it was loosing energy. When I finally caught its squirming body, I didn't even hesitate to smash it's head with the rock. The body stopped twitching and I heard Simon take a sharp breath in. The head had broken open, the insides beginning to ooze out, but the fishes eyes were still in tact. I sighed tiredly, and examined the meat before me.

"W-what do we do now?" asked Simon quietly. I squinted my eyes at the food, debating how I should do this. I thought back to all those survival shows I used to watch on television, trying to remember how we could benefit the most from this.

"Well. I guess it would be best if we gutted it first," I said. Simon walked up behind me, his face looking almost green.

"How are you going to do that?" he asked. You. I caught that. I could easily tell that Simon looked about ready to puke, but hunger had taken it's toll on him. He wanted to eat so badly, he was willingly to chow down on raw fish, but not so willing as to clean it himself.

I examined the fish in my hands. Back in the day, I used to do a lot of fishing with my brother before he went to college. We had never really gotten along, but fishing was something we could both agree on. This fish appeared to be a snapper, it was wide with pink-gray scales and big glassy eyes. Snappers were edible, luckily, and fairly easy to gut if you had a knife.

"I don't know," I muttered. The rock in my hand had a sharp edge and was pretty thick, but it would have to do. I plunged the sharp edge into the snapper's stomach, hearing Simon let out a shaky breath beside me as the insides began to ooze out. I pulled the rock down its middle slowly until I reached the head. Simon nearly fell over when I breezily stuck my hand inside the stomach and began to pull the guts out, tossing them over the side of the boat. When I finished, I wiped the blood off my hands onto my shorts.

"You know what, we should eat the eyes," I observed. Simon visibly paled.

"What? Have you gone crackers?" Simon exclaimed. I ignored him and began to dig the eyes out with my nails. They felt like slime- coated pieces of fruit, but I knew that they would be a great source of water.

"Two eyes, two of us," I said simply, popping out the first eye. I held it out to Simon, who gave a look of despair before picking it up with his fingers. It was easier to pop the second one out, which I held in my palm. Somewhere in the back of my mind, I knew that this was disgusting and that I should have been gagging like Simon, but I was still so excited from catching a fish that the elation hid the gross-factor.

"Bottoms up," I said, tossing the eye in my mouth with Simon following suit. His eyes turned wide with horror, but he grimaced to keep his mouth shut.

I tried to bite down on the eye, but it kept sliding back and forth in my mouth. Once the coat of slime wore off , I was able to get a firm grip on the eye with my teeth. I felt the back of my throat tense up with a gag, but I fought it off. I was able to bit down on the eye with a crunching sound, a rush of fluid filling my mouth. I swallowed quickly, but Simon wasn't as lucky. He bit down with the side of his mouth open, a bunch of black liquid dribbling down his chin quickly as he gagged. He snapped his mouth shut, swallowed unwillingly, and wiped his chin.

We took turns washing down the fish meat with our precious water, and soon we had devoured the whole fish. The meat was not actually that bad, it was slightly warm from the heat and tasted similar to sushi.

The sun became even more unbearable, so Simon and I went under the tarp to sleep. My stomach hurt even more now, a mixture of the raw fish not settling and the longing to eat more. My red skin radiated heat from the daily sunburn and the fish aftertaste was salty, making me even more thirsty. Laying underneath the tarp in the blazing heat, I realized for the first time that I might actually die. Fear prickled my hurting stomach and the longing for home felt even worse. I felt trapped, alone, and regretful. Tears began to prick, but I swallowed down the lump in my throat like I had the fish eyes. I looked up and saw Simon staring off into space, probably thinking the same things as me.

Simon, the boy I hated. The thing was, though, I _didn't_ hate him anymore. In fact, he was the only true friend I had ever had. Which made no sense! His very presence used to make my flesh crawl; every smile, every giggle, would make my heart race with hate. Hate, or something else I couldn't explain.

But here we were, stuck in the middle of the ocean, fighting for our lives. Looking at him, though, made the fight a little easier. He was like a distraction, or a little piece of society that kept me feeling human. I licked my lips and cleared my throat, knowing what I had to say.

"Simon," I murmured. He looked up casually, still easing his way out of whatever he had been pondering.

"I… We… Simon, I just want you to know… you are my best friend," I said. Simon smiled with dried, cracking lips.

"You too Jack, you too," he said.

**Author's note: I loved writing this chapter so much! Only problem is that it turned a lot more fluffy than I intended, but I was able to include all of the things I wanted to. Half of this chapter was written in Algebra class, the other half in Biology. I would like to give a round of applause to Man vs Wild, because that totally helped me describe the fish-eye eating experience. Yay for his grossness! Well, I hope you guys liked reading this as much as I liked writing it. I finally have the whole story planned out, so I will probably update a lot faster. Please, please review! **


	6. Chapter 6

**I do not own ****Lord of the Flies****. That is owned by Sir William Golding. I also do not own the song "I dreamed a dream," that is owned by the ****Les Miserables ****writers. **

SIMON'S POV

For the first time since we crashed, I felt comfortable. Not only in a physical sense, although the air had cooled considerably, but a mental state as well. I understood that it made no sense that Jack and I were friends due to our history, but the past four days had been extremely life- altering in more ways than one. Gaining Jack as a friend had been the most positive change of them all, so I decided to focus on that appose to all of the negative changes.

I breathed another content sigh as a cool breeze brushed my face and tousled back my thick hair. The cool rubber of the boat was pressed against my bare back and I stared at the dark blue sky.

"Jack," I called over the raft. He was bathing early that day, taking advantage of the light breeze.

"Yeah?" he replied.

"Is it suppose to be this dark?" I asked.

"What? I can't hear you," he said. I reluctantly sat up and leaned against the side of the raft, scanning the horizon. A sheet of smooth clouds were above us, but they did not appear too threatening, but when I turned around I saw the approaching beast. It was a wall of navy blue, the top spiked and deep gray. Lightening flashed a brilliant yellow and my heart began to race.

"Jack…. Jack come here," I said. The water splashed and Jack poked his head up from the other side of the raft.

"How many times do I have to tell you, I can't hear you? Now, what did you….." Jack trailed off and I saw his eyes get wide as he took in the approaching storm. I swallowed hard.

"Bloody hell….." he whispered in awe.

"What do we do!" I exclaimed. Jack blinked a couple of times.

"Well, I guess I better start with putting on some pants," he joked with a nervous laugh. I politely turned around as he jumped into the raft and pulled on his shorts. After that, he sat down beside me and stared at the storm.

"This is not good," I murmured quietly. Jack looked over at the other rafts where the boys were staring at the upcoming storm in worry. Right on cue, Ralph stood up and blew the conch.

"Everyone!" he yelled "All of you lot, paddle over here!" Jack sighed in distaste as he pulled out our paddle and splashed it into the water. All of the boats came together simultaneously, but not a single person tore their eyes away from the looming storm clouds.

"We need to prepare for the storm," Ralph said in a serious voice "Let's start with tying down the rafts really good. We should also attach them together so they don't float away from the group… We need the biguns to do that," Right on cue, Jack stood up, but I stayed seated. Yes, I was one of the older kids, but it seemed like no one really considered me a bigun, due to my stature.

"And the liluns should prop up any empty bottles to collect rainwater," Ralph finished. I attended to the bottles slowly, keeping one eye on the storm and the other on Ralph. He seemed to be staring at me again with that weird look screwed up on his face, his brown eyes reflecting back the dark clouds as if the storm was going on inside of him. I shook my head and directed my eyes away, focusing now on Jack. He was sloshing through the water towards one of the rafts manned by the twin's, holding a rope firmly in his hand with the other end disappearing into the water. I watched as he bit his lip in concentration and leaned over to tie the rope, his toned body catching my eye.

A crack of thunder made me jump and nearly fall into the water. I shook my head as if to clear away all of the emotions or words buzzing around inside and attended to smoothing out the tarp.

The biguns finished quickly and Jack lumbered back into the raft right as the rain started. We scrambled under the tarp, having a difficult time holding it down as the wind tried to pull the plastic from our grip.

The water began to stir, rolling up in foamy-white waves that flung our boat from side to side. I began to shake uncontrollably from the cold and fear as the sea harshly attacked our poor grouping of rafts flung into her midst. The rain poured in buckets now, but the tarp helped us from becoming completely soaked. A wave pulled our boat high in the air before it came crashing back down again. My stomach churned with the water and I closed my eyes, wishing I was home. Angry wind whistled in harmony with the growling thunder, both like monsters controlled by a vengeful Poseidon. I felt like I was a lonely, small spec caught in the middle of a huge battle, with no one even aware of my presence.

When I opened my eyes again I saw Jack staring back at me through a blur, which I only half-registered were tears running down my face. He crawled closer and wrapped his arms around me without saying a word.

It was a comfort to feel that I wasn't completely alone; not just that I had a friend but to know that another human being was in this situation with me. Jack's body radiated warmth, so I snuggled my head against his chest and whimpered.

"It's going to be alright," he whispered. I turned my back to him, but kept his hand pressed against my racing heart. Rain began to pelt the tarp even harder, some of the water spilling over the edges onto my feet and head. The waves swelled and the boat jumped beneath me. My crying must have gotten louder, because Jack shushed me again.

"I'm here," he whispered soothingly. It sounded like he was talking to a child; but then again I was acting like a child. I knew that later I would internally beat myself up for acting so pathetic, but at that moment I was glad to have Jack there. The wind pulled up a corner of the tarp and I caught a glimpse of the storm outside. A sheet of blue-gray clouds swirled above, while a navy blue sea etched with foaming white waves madly crashed below. I sniffled and pulled the tarp back down.

The rain began to slow down, but the wind kept up it's little game of throwing our boat between it's hands. I closed my eyes in an attempt to sleep out the remainder of the storm, but heard a soft humming. It took me a second to realize it was coming from Jack.

"W-what song is that?" I stuttered. Another roll of thunder came from the sky, accompanied by a flash of lightening I could see through the tarp. Jack hugged me tighter, either trying to comfort me or himself.

" 'I dreamed a dream' from Les Mis," Jack whispered. I shuttered as the boat rose and fell once again.

"We are going to die here," I murmured sadly. My heart raced in my chest at the words I had said, but I knew in my mind it was true. I began to ache for my loved ones who would miss me, as well for myself because I was so young. Another tear ran down my face.

"Simon, listen to me," Jack said sternly "We are _not_ going to die."

"How can you be so sure?" I cried. Jack turned me to face him.

"Because, we don't want to. I know this may sound crazy, but the odds are not against us. We have food and water. We have a raft. But most importantly, we have the desire to live," A quieter boom of thunder seemed to agree with him. Staring into Jack's watery blue eyes made something stir within me, and I knew in that moment that what he said was true. We would survive this, and we would survive it together.

I turned back and pulled his arm around me. Over the noise of the storm, I heard Jack softly singing.

"I dreamed a dream in time gone by, when hope was high and life worth living, I dreamed that love would never die, I dreamed that God would be forgiving, then I was young and unafraid, and dreams were made and used and wasted, there was no ransom to be paid, no song unsung, no wine untasted," sang Jack softly. His voice was almost angelic, and it was as if the storm around me had disappeared. My mind was with dreams and love that would never die. "But the tigers come at night with their voices soft as thunder, as they tear your hope apart, as they turn your dream to shame" Jack's song had changed, not just that the notes had gotten lower, but his voice had a bitter edge to it now. I anxiously awaited the next verse. "He slept a summer by my side, he filled my days with endless wonder, he took my childhood in his stride, but he was gone when autumn came," sang Jack. All I could think of was Ralph and how that was exactly like him. My heart went out to Jack's song, because he truly voiced the pain I had felt as if it had happened to him. "And still I dream he'll come to me, that we will live the years together, but there are dreams that cannot be, and there are storms we cannot weather," The song rose like the waves around us, fierce but still dripping with melancholy. Almost exactly like the storm with raging winds of anger and a depressing rain of tears. "I had a dream my life would be, so different from this hell I'm living, so different now from what it seemed, now life has killed the dream I dreamed," Jack finished his song with a breathy laugh and I awakened from the trance I was in.

"I'm not as good as I used to be," he said "I used to practice twice a day, when no one was around to here me. I was chapter chorister you know."

"I think your amazing," I said. Jack stroked my arm, a surprisingly tender gesture. It felt good to have him hold me; it felt safe. But I knew there was something wrong.

I opened my mouth to say so, but before I could even voice a word I was distracted by a pair of warm lips gently kissing my neck. Jack pulled back and I felt him go ridged.

It was quite for a minute aside from the thunder and wind.

"What… why did you…" I stuttered. Jack let go of me and I wasn't sure if I liked it or not.

"Sorry," Jack said.

"Jack, it's-"

"You just seemed upset and I wanted to comfort you. Let's not talk about it," he said. Jack turned his back to me and I sighed.

Suddenly, the storm didn't seem so scary.

JACK'S POV

I couldn't believe it when I opened my eyes to brilliant sunshine. At first I thought I was dreaming, that maybe my mind was trying to pull a dirty trick on me, but when I felt the pool of rainwater that had accumulated at the bottom of the raft lap at my toes, I knew that I was awake. Yesterday's events came flooding back to me and slowly my balloon of happiness deflated, bringing me down to earth.

I swore up and down I would _never_ touch Simon like that again. He was scared and I was just trying to comfort him. Nothing more. But next time he got scared, I would not even think of hugging him, or stroking his arm, or snuggling against his soft skin, or kissing his neck…

No! I would tell him it was his own problem. That my imaginary girlfriend back home would be jealous or freaked out. Besides, he didn't need me, he was too independent and rational, so he would just have to learn how to make himself feel better. His fears were not my problem.

Suddenly, Simon turned over in his sleep and snuggled against my bare chest with a sigh.

_Screw it _I thought.

**Author's Note: Sorry about the short/slow update. It's been a really stressful week, so I haven't had much time to write. I apologize in advance for those of you who don't agree with my song choice, I don't really listen to much music other than pop and Broadway tunes. Just for your information, it's about day 5 in the story. Don't worry dears, I have a plan of survival for the boys, and I should start winding down the story now. Reviews are amazing, I absolutely love feedback. **


	7. Chapter 7

**Disclaimor: I do not own the story Lord of the Flies. That is owned by Sir William Golding.**

SIMON'S POV

"On the count of three."

"Alright."

"One."

"Two."

"Three." And with that, I threw my head back and swallowed my second ever fish eye. This time, I refused to bite it, and I swallowed the slimy thing whole. Quickly, I scooped up a handful of fresh rainwater that had pooled at the bottom of the raft and washed the dreadful taste out of my mouth. I looked up at Jack, who was still glowing with pride from catching another edible-fish.

"Yum," he said sarcastically. I rolled my eyes as I laid down on the dry side of the raft.

"It's sad when I get excited to eat raw fish," I murmured. Jack crawled next to me and leaned back against the raft himself.

"Hey, people back home think sushi is a delicacy. I don't think we are all that weird," he replied.

"Well, I wouldn't go that far as to say we are not weird, but-"

"Hey! Jack, Simon! Could you guys come here?" called Ralph from the other side of our raft circle. Jack gave a annoyed sigh and turned around.

"Do you want us to bring our raft?" Jack called back.

"No, that's fine," Ralph replied. Jack shot me a look before swinging his legs over the side our boat and splashing into the water. I followed suit, and soon we were standing in front of Ralph, knee-deep in water.

"What do you want?" asked Jack, placing his hands on his hips and leaning to the side. Ralph swept his long hair out of his eyes and gave a smile resembling a political leader running for office.

"Well, you see, I noticed that you caught a fish today," said Ralph.

"And?" Jack replied.

"And I was wondering if you could catch some more and share them with the others. It would only be fair," Ralph said. Jack and I shared a look.

"Um, no. Tell the others to catch their own fish," Jack said. Ralph frowned.

"Fine, I'll be frank. Next time you catch a fish, give it too me. I haven't had anything to eat in six days and I can't possibly be the leader of this bloody group while starving!" Ralph snapped.

"Leader? Give me a break. You think just because you have that stupid little conch shell, I'm going to listen to what you say? Catch your own food," Jack said "Come on Simon." Jack turned and began to storm away, as fast as a person in water can storm away. I tried to follow him, but Ralph grabbed my wrist.

"Simon," he whispered. His voice sounded desperate, so I turned around cautiously.

"What?" I asked, my voice softer than I had intended. Ralph's eyes met mine and he just stared at me for the longest time. I swallowed my heart as it tried to jump up my throat, while that familiar nervous feeling pricked at my stomach.

"Simon…. I've had this feeling lately. I-I, well, you know I've never been g-good with words," Ralph stuttered, letting go of my hand and staring down at the water shyly. Suddenly, the sun seemed hotter on my bare skin and the salt water around my knees burned. I wanted to walk away, but curiosity mixed with dread kept me glued to my spot.

"What are you talking about?" I said, my voice void of emotion. Ralph looked up at me and gave one of those half smiles which used to make my heart melt.

"I think you know," he said. I automatically took a step back, sensing what was to come.

"N-no. I don't," I said, trying to play dumb. Ralph scanned the surrounding area, where most of the boys were out playing in the water. He leaned down so his face wasn't far from mine and kept his voice low.

"Yes, you do…. I'm sorry," he said. He waited a second for me to respond, but I couldn't even open my mouth.

"You know what this means, don't you?" he asked. I wasn't able to form a response, so I simply shook my head from side to side. Irritation flashed over Ralph's handsome features, but he leaned in even closer and made his voice lower.

"Simon. I love you," he whispered. He pulled back quickly and looked around, making sure no one had heard him. I swallowed hard and only-half registered that my nails were digging into the palm of my hand. I was shaking, my leg muscles twitching like I should bolt, but yet I was frozen to the spot.

"No you don't. You don't know what love is," I growled, barely audible. Ralph looked back at me.

"What?" he asked.

"You heard me," I said, my voice getting louder. Ralph shot me a panicked look, obviously wanting me to keep it down.

"Si-"

"No, I don't want to hear it!" I yelled "Don't ever talk to me again!" I turned around shakily and began to splash through the water towards my raft. Behind me, I heard a sniffle, but I did not care in the least bit. My time to cry was over.

Now it was Ralph's turn.

JACK'S POV

"What was that about?" I asked as Simon sat on the edge of the raft, drying salt water off his legs with his discarded shirt. He was angrily scrubbing his legs, as if he was trying to get the salt off, muttering things like "blinkered twit" or "not bleeding likely" to himself. Thinking he must not have heard me over his own ranting, I tapped his shoulder lightly.

"Simon? What the bloody hell-"

"Leave me alone!" he growled. I took a step back and rolled my eyes.

"Fine than, suit yourself," I said. With that, I turned and jumped out of the raft, not really in the mood or condition to be dealing with all the drama.

I splashed through the water, past the liluns, and came to the raft of the sleeping Hunters. I peered over the edge and scanned their calm faces, not feeling a bit of remorse for leaving them. They were easily manipulated sheep who I had only been friends with for popularity. It was stupid, but looking at them made me feel like I was looking into the face of my past self, and for some reason… I didn't like it.

"Well, well, well, look who decided to show up. Merridew, I haven't seen you in a while," snickered Roger. He leaned casually against the side of the raft, picking the last bits of fish off a bone and licking his fingers.

"Roger. Uh, hi," I said. Roger rolled his eyes and tossed the remaining bones over his shoulder, into the water.

"Hi? Is that all you have to say?" Roger snickered.

"Um… yes," I said, my voice even. Roger laughed loudly, sounding a little too much like a cliché- evil character from a cartoon for my taste.

"Well than, I'm glad we had this conversation!" he laughed, shaking his head in a disgusted manner.

"What's the matter with you? Have you gone batty?" I said, looking about to see if anyone could back up my case. Roger shrugged and ran his hands through his shaggy hair, pulling it off his sweat-shining forehead.

"Have _I_ gone batty? Who knows… but for sure I know you have," he muttered. He smiled a familiar smile. I had seen it throughout all the years I had gone to school with Roger, and I knew exactly what it meant; that Roger knew something I didn't.

"How so?" I asked, placing my hands against the raft and standing up tall. I was already looking down at Roger, but now even with my shadow covering him he did not seem the least bit phased. In fact, he smiled.

"You know how-"

"No, I don't. What are you talking about Roger?" I snapped, sick of playing games. Roger's smile disappeared and he pushed himself so he was sitting up straight.

"You have changed Jack," he said simply. Surprisingly, I let out a whoosh of breath like someone had knocked the wind out of me.

Changed? It shouldn't have been such a shock to me. Devastations like that, well, they _changed _everyone and I was no exception. But to hear the words come from someone else made it all the more real. How much had I _changed_? I knew I would never go back to my old ways, even if I had the chance. But I still felt a bit of longing squeeze my chest, because even though I would _never_ go back to being my old self, I still missed the lifestyle. Like they say, ignorance is bliss.

"Yes Roger, I have. But what of it is any of _your _business?" I said.

"My business? Well, first off, I don't quite appreciate having my supposed friend ditch me. Thanks a lot for that," Roger said.

"_You_ ditched _me_, you git," I snapped back.

"That's bollocks. You could have come to this raft anytime you wanted, but you chose to stay with that stupid kid we used to tease. Not that you didn't have your reasons, I would say," Roger said, raising an eyebrow with a devious grin on his face.

I bit my lip.

"What are you saying?" I said, my voice suddenly a hell of a lot quieter than I had intended.

"I've seen it. The way you look at him, how you put your arms around him when you go to sleep-" I opened my mouth to say something, but Roger held up his hand.

"Save it. I always thought it was weird you never have had a girlfriend, or even _talked_ about girls before. But this?" Roger shook his head slowly like a scornful parent, but still smiling.

"Roger, there is nothing going on between Simon and I. Don't be an idiot," I said, my voice shaking. Roger chuckled.

"Oh _sure_. Whatever you say, Jackie-boy," he laughed. I looked down.

"Now get lost," Roger spat. With a strangled sigh, I turned and walked back to my raft with shaking legs.

SIMON'S POV

The sky was painted with another brilliant orange sunset, the only thing I seemed to enjoy about my stay in the ocean. From the rosy veil that surrounded a smooth orange half- sun, to the distant purple clouds leading the blanket of navy darkness, the sunset was at it's peak. Stepping onto the raft after a little swim, I wondered what the sunset looked like back home. Although it was probably less miraculous and colorful, I sighed with the longing to be there.

As I was pulling on my shorts, Jack bounded onto the raft, making it bob beneath me. He had gone off to get our daily bottle of water from Ralph and it hadn't even taken any coaxing from me to get him to do it. Jack had been acting off since he had talked to Roger earlier, but I had my own problems to deal with, so I left him alone. It had been a very quite day.

I sat down and leaned against the raft, watching the sunset idly. My mind drifted back to Ralph and that nagging sensation that had bothered me since I had talked to him. I didn't feel bad about what I said, not in the least bit, but since then I had had this feeling. I couldn't quite name what it was, but there was _something_ I was missing.

Jack sat beside me and gave a loud sigh. He looked at me expectantly.

"What?" I said. Jack looked down at his hands and back up at me.

"Nothing," he said. But it was written all over his face; it was _not _nothing. His red eyebrows bunched together in concentration and he twiddled his thumbs nervously.

"Liar. What's wrong?" I asked, suddenly curious.

"I said nothing," he replied, looking towards the sunset to avoid my eyes.

"I highly doubt that. Is this about Roger? You've been acting weird since you talked to him," I said.

"Well… kind of." Jack said. I pinched his arm and smiled to lighten up the mood.

"Go on…" I prompted.

"Um… I'll tell you later. When everyone's asleep," he said. I rolled my eyes.

"It can't be _that_ bad," I said. Jack shook his head and gave a sad smile.

"Oh, _trust_ me. It is."

**Author's Note: Cliffhanger! Sorry, I couldn't resist. Uhhh, this chapter took forever! There was a lot of "cleaning up" I had to do for this chapter, and next will be the fun part. As I said earlier, I will try and wrap up the story soon, but it may take a while. I would like to thank all of those people who reviewed my stories, because the support and critics have helped me soooo much. If I get a lot of reviews for this chappy, I may possibly update faster *wink wink, nudge nudge*. Thanks for reading!**


	8. Chapter 8

**I do not own Lord of the Flies that is owned by Sir William Golding.**

**This chapter is dedicated to all of those people who reviewed my story. Thanks so much!**

JACK'S POV

Simon.

It was just a two syllable name, five letters, simple, and distinctly British. It wasn't like I hadn't met someone with the name before, but it never had this much significance to me. I guess that applies to all words. Before, Simon was just a name. A guy who was my waiter at a restaurant. My teacher's first name. A person on the news channel. A kid I teased. But suddenly, the name changed.

"Simon," I whispered into the night before me. All I heard in response was the soft breathing of the small boy beside me as he dreamed on, his mind far from the dark raft holding us. The wind was light and breezy, almost cold. The water was shining with slivers of moonlight and I heard the soft rise and fall of the ocean. It was peaceful, almost pleasant, and perfect for what I was about to do.

_What are you doing Jack? Are you nuts! He's going to… to…. That's just the thing, he's not going to do anything. In fact, he will stop talking to you altogether. Is that what you really want? To lose the only real friend you have ever had? _I thought.

_No! I can't keep hiding this anymore. He will understand. And maybe… just maybe… he will return the feelings _I thought in response.

_Now you __**are**__ nuts. Simon will never return your feelings after the way you used to treat him _I thought. "But I have to try," I said aloud. I shut my mouth quickly. Not only was I acting like I had split-personality disorder, but I was talking to myself. It was going to be a rough night.

"Simon, wake up," I said, giving him a slight shake "I need to talk to you," I felt him stir next to me "Si?"

"Jack… What's wrong?" said Simon sleepily, sitting up. I turned to face him, but could only see the outline of his features in the moonlight. Darks shadows swept across his face and I saw him rub his eyes slowly. I took a deep breath.

"Remember what we were talking about earlier? The thing about Roger?" I said. Simon sighed tiredly.

"Yeah," he said with a yawn.

"Well… I sort of.. I-I have something to t-tell you. And, well, I'm not quite sure…. how you are going to take it. I, um.. Well, y-you see, I….." I stuttered nervously, running my fingers through my hair as my stomach tossed and turned like the ocean around us. Even in the pale moonlight, I could see Simon's forehead crease in confusion.

"Jack? What is this about?" he asked. I felt like I was going to throw up. Now, I was committed, I _had_ to tell him or he would know something was up. The pressure was killing me.

"I… I can't.." I whispered, turning from Simon and leaning over the side of the boat. It was quite for a minute until I felt his hand touch my shoulder.

"Whatever it is, you can tell me," said Simon, his voice concerned and caring. I felt slightly calmed by his reassurance, but not by much. Still, I forced myself to turn around and look directly at him. I was glad for the dark to conceal my face, to hide my shame.

"I know that, in the past, I have treated you horribly. I'm so, so sorry. And… well…" I trailed off.

"I forgive you. Your different now Jack, I can see that," said Simon brightly. I couldn't help but smile.

"Thank you. But… that's not all," I whispered. Simon cocked his head to the side and leaned back against the raft. Although I knew he was only tired of sitting up, part of me was worried that he was already shying away from me. Not that I would blame him.

"What?" said Simon curiously.

"You see, I've had this…." _Just do it. Rip off the band aid! Get it over with!_

"I….I…." _Rip it! _

"Um, I…." _You know the words, just say them!_

"Jack? Are you-" _Now!_

"Simon, I love you!"

Silence. Deadly silence. The quiet seemed to stretch on and on, until I felt I was about to explode with nervousness. I couldn't think, I couldn't talk, I could barely breath. At last, Simon spoke.

"Are you serious?" he said, his voice showing no indication of his feelings. Once again, I was glad for the darkness. Seeing his face would only have tempted me to read his emotions and it would have made me crazy.

"Yes," I replied.

"Oh," he said. It was quiet for a second and I was afraid there would be another horrible pause. Luckily, Simon continued.

"I don't… I don't understand something. Will you help me Jack?" said Simon quietly.

I didn't know why, but I found this funny, so I laughed nervously. I could almost see Simon smiling in the darkness, the picture in my mind was so clear.

"Sure, I guess" I said. Simon breathed in sharply.

"Just… hold still," he said shakily. _What could he possibly be talking about? I wish I had never said anything. What was I thinking, he will never-_

It took me about three seconds to realize Simon was kissing me.

SIMON'S POV

It was perfect. His lips, pressed against mine. At first he was surprised and stiffened up, but soon he was leaning into me. My heart beat a mile a minute, but the sweetness mixed with longing was simply intoxicating.

My question was answered.

I pulled back slowly and wished it wasn't dark. At least then, I could see Jack's face and try to figure out what was going on.

To think, Jack Merridew, in love with me. It was the last thing I had expected him to say, but then again normality went out the door the moment we became friends. Part of it made sense; it was the reason he tortured me at school, saved my life, and kissed my neck. But it also made no sense because of his personality. Strong, confident Jack could _not_ be secretly in love with me. Could he?

Suddenly, Jack broke my train of thought with another quick kiss on the lips. My heart soared and my thoughts muddled. When he pulled away, he laid back down and looked up at the moon. For the first time that night, I saw his eyes clearly as they reflected the moonlight, and from what I could tell he looked just as confused as I felt. He looked at me thoughtfully and closed his eyes.

"We'll worry about this tomorrow," said Jack. I laid down on the opposite side of the raft, just like that first day, my heart pounding and my mind buzzing.

JACK'S POV

_I don't understand something. Will you help me Jack? _Sweet, bliss, heart pounding, lips pressed together.

It had been the best dream ever. When I opened my eyes to the bright sunshine, disappointment washed over me like a sandy tide.

I breathed in deeply, taking in the salty air and the mugginess that was already beginning to settle over our raft. A seagull screeched overhead. I watched the sky as it went from pale blue, to bright orange, and finally, streaked with gold. There wasn't much else to do on the raft and watching the sky was about the most entertaining thing I had.

Well, aside from Simon.

Gazing at the cloudless sky as morning broke, I couldn't help but marvel at how vivid my dream had been. I could still close my eyes and see everything perfectly; from the moonlight in Simon's hair to the dark waves dancing in front of my face. Everything had been perfect. _Too bad it wasn't real….._ I thought sadly.

"Jack?" said Simon, sitting up quickly. I jumped.

"Simon! Blimey, you nearly gave me a heart attack," I laughed, propping myself up slightly.

"It's early," said Simon quietly, adverting his eyes. He pulled his knees to his chest and stared down at the water thoughtfully.

"Yes. I don't think any of the other boys are up," I said, scooting closer to him like I usually did. Simon turned his head to the side and I saw his face turn slightly pink.

"Yeah," he said, before going silent. An awkward pause filled the air and I began to fiddle with the loose strings on the bottom of my shorts.

"Is something wrong?" I asked. Simon sighed, bit his lip, and looked at me. His green eyes bore into mine, scrutinizing and worried. I smiled awkwardly, trying not to look as uncomfortable as I felt.

"Look, Jack, about last night….."

"What about it?" I asked nonchalantly. Simon turned his head to the side.

"What _about_ it? You're kidding, right?" said Simon almost angrily.

Wait, wait, wait. I replayed the events of last night over in my head, beginning to have the inkling my dream hadn't been a dream. I felt my stomach lurch.

"Hold on. That wasn't a dream?" I asked, my eyes widening. Simon's scowl quickly turned into a smile and he gave a light chuckle.

"You thought that was a dream?" said Simon, obviously amused. Now the memories were racing back to me and an embarrassing blush made its way up my face.

"So… wait… I k-kissed you?" I asked, involuntarily stumbling over the word "kiss", as if saying the word made it more real. Simon's smile faded, but his eyes stayed calm, his expression unreadable. He shrugged his small shoulders and gazed down again.

"Yeah," he said blandly, like I had asked him if he was bored. There was a pause as I attempted to process everything that had occurred, my heart racing. It seemed impossible but…..

"Hold on a second. Didn't _you_ kiss _me_? Not me kiss you?" I asked. Simon looked up indignantly and scoffed.

"Well, you are the one who said _you _loved _me_," he replied. Now it was my turn to laugh.

"Simon, it's not a bad thing. I was just trying to clarify. So… what does this all mean?" I asked. Simon gave another emotionless shrug.

"I'm not quite sure myself…. What do you want it to mean?" asked Simon. Another awkward silence arose, again, heavy and filled with anticipation. I sighed.

"Okay, look. I meant every word I said last night, I know that for sure. Aside from that, I have no clue what is going on, or why I feel the way I feel, or how any of this could possibly make sense but….. If you want….. Maybe, we could make something work," the entire time I spoke, I was looking at my hands, as if they held the answers to all my problems.

Much to my shock, Simon burst out laughing.

"This… this is kind of ridiculous," said Simon "Look at us! We are being fools." At first, I felt anger flare up inside of me, but the more I thought about it, the more it made sense.

"Yes, we kind of are," I agreed. Simon smiled brightly, looking like he was on the edge of more laughter.

"I mean, _really_, we both obviously care for each other, but yet here we are fooling around with all this rubbish," said Simon. Once our laughter died, Simon gently reached over and took my hand in his.

"Jack, I meant what I said last night too. You _have_ changed. And so have I. I stayed up all night thinking about this, and although I could come up with about a thousand reasons why we shouldn't be together, I could not see myself being happy with any of the outcomes," said Simon.

"So… does this mean… um….." I trailed off. _Boy, I am really showing off the intellect here, aren't I? _I thought. What was I suppose to say? I shrugged, leaned down, and kissed Simon. When I pulled back, he was smiling.

"Yes. That's what this means," Simon clarified.

SIMON'S POV

By mid-afternoon, things were back to normal. The other boys had woken up, so obviously Jack and I couldn't sit around holding hands and kissing like we had all morning.

It had been about the weirdest morning of my life.

The sun was at it's blistering best, set mid-sky and throwing down heat waves like it was nothing. My skin no longer burned the way it used too, but was dried and covered with a layer of grim from the surf. My hair was matted and smelled like sweat. All around, I was the grossest I had ever been my entire life, which was to be expected since I hadn't properly bathed in nearly a week. After Jack and I had ,er, become "a thing", I was consistently aware of my outer appearance. Part of me was disgusted with myself for acting like a weak girl, but the other half of me wanted to continue being attractive for Jack. It was conflicting and confusing, just like everything else that was going on.

I was sitting on the edge of the raft with my feet in the water, thinking longingly about home and air conditioning, when Jack came trotting up with a worried look on his face. I grabbed my discarded shirt and dried off my legs, watching Jack as he sloshed through the sea.

"Hey, can I talk to you?" Jack said, with his eyebrows raised for implications. I nodded and we both entered the raft, hiding under the tarp.

"What's wrong now?" I asked. Jack bit his lip.

"Well…. Two things actually. Which first, bad or worse?" Jack asked.

"Bad," I said. Jack gave a nervous smile and took my hand gently.

"I don't want to be…. Weird or anything but…. Why didn't you tell me you and Ralph-"

"Oh my gosh. What did he say?" I said, sweating a little more than I already was. Jack made a face I had never seen before and let go of my hand. _Was that because I'm sweating…. _I wondered idly.

"He was sort of vague. All he said was 'So, you and Simon, eh? Been down that road before,' and than he said 'I need to talk to both of you, later,' all angry like," Jack said "Should I be concerned?"

"No. Once Ralph and I had something, but that's over. I don't have any feelings for him anymore," I said surely. I felt a little spark of victory within me, glad for the fact that I had truly gotten over Ralph and found someone. Someone, way better.

"Are you sure about that?" Jack asked, his voice taking up a challenging quality. I frowned.

"Of course I'm sure, you don't have to be so-" my voice cracked and I started coughing dryly. I pushed the tarp off me and kept coughing, embarrassed as tears sprang to my eyes. I swallowed hard and looked around the raft.

"Jack," I asked in a weak, raspy voice "Where's the water?"

"That's the other bad news," Jack said sadly "There is no more water."

**Author's Note:** So, I was super duper happy to find that tons of people reviewed. Oh my gosh, thank you all so much! The comments were really supportive and helped me keep going when I got lazy when writing this chapter. I told y'all that I would be wrapping up soon, and I will, but it may take a few more chapters than I had expected. Yay Jack and Simon for finally getting together! I'm really happy about this! =) And now- serious time! *dun dun dunnnn* okay, not really. After I finish this story, I plan on writing a few one-shots for LOTF before I start my next one. I was just wondering if you would all take my poll on my page and vote for what pairing you wanna see. So, yeah, I'm done blabbering. Please review, and I'll write faster! 3


	9. Chapter 9

**Disclaimor: I do not own Lord of the Flies. That is owned by Sir William Golding.**

SIMON'S POV

I had an expiration date. It was a commonly known fact that a person could survive only three days without water, if they were lucky. The odds were worse for a person in the heat, sweating out what little water supplies their body had left. I, unfortunately, not only lacked water but was right in the path of the blazing sun.

The walls were slowly closing in on me and it was truly terrifying. Claustrophobia set in, which was absolutely ridiculous since I was surrounded by vast ocean as far as the eye could see. Maybe it was the water itself. There was no solid ground for me to walk on, so I was trapped to that small, cramped raft.

"Simon…. Sweetheart, please stop crying. Please," Jack's voice pleaded. I hadn't even realized I was crying, so when I opened my eyes and the world was blurring it was quite a surprise. It had only been an hour since Jack told me the news that we had no water and I was already a wreck.

Jack untangled his arms from around me and gently wiped a tear off my face. His shoulders were relaxed and he showed no signs of fear at all. In fact, he seemed extremely calm.

"Look, I know you are really upset right now, but Ralph wants us so…." Jack trailed off unsurely.

"No, it's fine. Let's get this over with," I replied with a sigh.

JACK'S POV

That stupid blonde idiot was looking at Simon in a way that made me want to knock his lights out. He held himself like he thought he had power, his hands folded neatly in front of him and his back straight, as he was poised at the edge of his raft. It was ridiculous that the twit thought he was anything other than a sad little kid pretending to be some great leader, but it wasn't that that was bugging me. No, it was the look of fire in his eyes. He wanted to pick a fight, he wanted to start trouble, and he wanted to start it with Simon.

Once we were in front of the raft, Ralph's eyes went straight to Simon and his lips pulled back in a smirk like he was about to attack. I clenched my fists.

"Simon," said Ralph. _I do not like that, him saying __**my**__ Simon's name. Who does he think he- wait. __**My**__ Simon? Where the hell did that come from? Uh, focus Jack, focus! _I thought.

"Ralph. What do you want?" asked Simon.

"So…. Last night I had some trouble getting to sleep, and while I was sitting up, staring at the stars minding my own business, I happened to overhear a conversation. A very _interesting_ conversation…." Ralph said. Simon's face lost all its color and I was worried he would have another fainting spell. Ralph smiled.

"That's right. I know everything," now Ralph turned to me "I never really thought _you_ would be one to like boys, Jack."

"I never thought that about you either, Ralph," I snapped back. Ralph's face flushed and he adverted his eyes nervously for a second before regaining his calm composure.

"_That_ was just a stage. And I got over it," Ralph spat. I rolled my eyes.

"Please, I don't want to hear all about your inner problems. Do you need us for anything? Or can we go?" I said. Ralph laughed suddenly, sounding completely crackers, and shook his head from side to side in mock disappointment. Simon and I shared a glance.

"That's exactly what you can do! Both of you! Because, guess what? As chief, I'm exiling you from the group. Get your raft and leave!" Ralph yelled.

"What!" yelled Simon and I at the same time. I shook my head in disbelief. Exile? He had to be joking…..

"You heard me," said Ralph threateningly. I took a step towards him.

"I'm not leaving and neither is Simon. I don't care if you have that stupid pink shell, you are _not_ chief and I don't take commands from you!" I yelled. Ralph leaned down, his face so close to mine I could feel his breathing.

"Yes, you do. Because if you don't leave, I'm going to tell the whole group all about you and Simon," said Ralph. Behind me, I heard Simon inhale sharply. I turned around and my eyes locked with Simon's green ones reassuringly. After a brief pause, I turned back around to face Ralph.

"Go ahead. I could care less," I replied. If I was going to be with Simon, I didn't see much of a point of hiding it. It wasn't that I felt like it would be _wrong _to hide it, actually it would probably make our lives easier in the long run ,but I just supposed that once I admitted it to myself that I loved him, I was also admitting it to the whole world.

Ralph rolled his eyes.

"I was pretty sure you would say that. How about this, you leave with your raft or your not even going to _have_ a raft," said Ralph calmly. Simon's eyelids fluttered in confusion.

"What are you talking about?" he asked. Ralph reached around and picked something up out of his raft, not once taking his eyes off us.

"This," he said, holding something small in the light. It was a round, shiny disk about the size of a quarter, marked with our school emblem in blue. Just seeing the symbol made me feel sick to my stomach as I remembered life before the crash, but that wasn't the only thing wrong with that tiny piece of metal. No, it was the sharp pin on the back of it that was the problem.

"You're going to sink us?" gasped Simon, tears welling up in his green eyes. He angrily pushed them away and bit his lip in defiance. Ralph closed his eyes and shrugged as if to say "I don't care", and tossed the pin between his hands.

"I'm surprised neither of you knew I had this. Found it on my blazer the fourth day, some award I got from art club, but that's no matter. How do you think I continued to be leader? From that dumb conch shell? Please. So I would suggest you both get going. You have until sunset to leave," Ralph said. Ralph gave one more arrogant smile before turning around and jumping back into his raft. It took all of my energy not to reach over there and smack him across the face.

It took even more restraint when I saw tears run down Simon's face as he walked towards our precious raft.

SIMON'S POV

Another deadline. Sunset.

Once we got to our raft, neither of us hesitated to detach the ropes and pull out the paddles. We rowed away in silence, ignoring the confused looks from the other boys and the hot sun on our backs. It wasn't a big procession and Ralph didn't even sit up to watch his enemies leave. One minute we were there, the next we were gone. No one even noticed.

The group became smaller and smaller, until they disappeared completely from the horizon. It was sunset by the time we stopped.

The water where we stopped was a darker blue and too deep to attach the raft to anything. Jack and I hadn't talked all day, but my mouth was so dry from thirst I wasn't sure I _could_ talk if I wanted too. I put down my paddle and slowly leaned over the side of the raft. The water danced in front of my face, navy blue tinged with sunset gold, teasing me, taunting me. I looked closer and saw my reflection. Red, cracked lips, tired, dark eyes…. All surrounded by water. Water. Sweet, cool, refreshing, perfect water…..

I reached down cautiously, piercing the flawlessly smooth swells with my finger. Cool water lapped against it and tiny droplets jumped up to my wrist. I plunged my whole hand in. The texture of the water running against my skin made me even more thirsty. _Maybe just having something cool in my mouth would work. I won't drink the salt water, so it won't dehydrate me… _I thought. Impulsively, I cupped my hand and pulled some of the water up to my mouth.

"Simon!" I spit it out. Salt was burning in my mouth, but I ignored it and whipped around to face Jack.

"What are you doing? Are you crackers?" he yelled. I scraped my tongue with my front teeth, trying to rid it off the horrible salty taste. Jack crawled up to me.

"I'm so sorry… I just thought…." I stopped as a lump formed in the back of my throat. Salty tears stung at my eyes now matching my stinging mouth. Jack sighed painfully and wrapped his arms around me.

"Water, water everywhere but not a drop to drink. Rhyme of the Ancient Mariner," Jack said. I pulled back and swallowed the lump in my throat.

"Things are not looking good," I said. Jack let out a sudden, crazy laugh.

"You can say that again!" he said. I frowned and Jack stopped.

"Look, Si, do you remember what I said during the storm?" he asked. I shook my head.

"I told you there is no way we are going down without a fight. So what if those bloody idiots threw us out? Maybe it's a good thing," Jack said, sitting up a little taller and using more power in his voice. The sun cast a dramatic glow to his face, lighting up his hair to a deeper red and making his tan skin glow orange.

"You're joking right?" I replied. Jack smiled.

"Hardly. We can't just sit around waiting anymore, we have to go looking for rescue ourselves!" Jack said.

I thought about Jack's words. Part of me wanted to believe him, hope that there still was a chance, that together we could do it. But the other half of me? I was worn out, just a kid who had been through more than he could handle. Of course I didn't want to die, but I wasn't superman, I couldn't do the impossible. But then again…..

I looked at Jack again. Only one week ago, we had been enemies for life and suddenly, he had become the person I cared about the most. Now _that_ was impossible. If I could make that work, who was to say I couldn't make this work?

"So what do you say?" asked Jack, his eyes burning with fight still left in them. I pulled myself off the ground and looked him straight in the eyes.

"Bring it on."

**Author's Note: Alright, so I've officially figured that after this there will only be two chapters left. This story took waaaaay longer than I expected! The feedback has been amazing though, so thank you all so much for the reviews and messages, its so super duper ah-mazing! **

**Jack: Thank goodness this stories almost over! I'm thirsty!**

**Simon: Aww, Jack don't say that! I don't want this story to end...**

**Jack: And why not?**

**Paris: Because, the next story is going to be a Ralph/Jack slash. Simon's not even going to be in it. **

**Simon: I will miss you Jackie-kins!**

**Jack:... Jackie-kins?**

**Paris: I think it's cute. **

**Jack:...**

**Paris: I have a whole list of names for you. Jackie-kins, Jackilynn, Jackolantern, Jackie-bear-**

**Jack: WHAT?**

**Simon: See, doesn't the raft seem a hell of a lot better now?**

**Review!**


	10. Chapter 10

**Disclaimer: I do not own the story ****Lord of the Flies. ****That is owned by Sir William Golding.**

**I dedicate this chapter to Canadino, my new ah-mazing beta!**

JACK'S POV

"Wake up! Wake up! It's here, oh god, it's here! It's rescue, Simon!" I yelled, shaking the small boy next to me awake. His eyelids fluttered open and he squinted against the bright sunlight, looking out on the blue horizon. My heart was soaring with happiness as I watched the blurry, dark boat make its way over to our raft. It was over! We were finally going to be rescued! There was silence as we watched the rescuers make their way towards us. I turned to Simon with a grin on my face, finally able to smile now that the weight of survival was off my shoulders.

But Simon did not smile back. Instead he gave me a weird look, his green eyes alive with concern.

"What are you talking about?" he asked. I rolled my eyes.

"Hello, are you blind? The boat, silly!" I said. Simon blinked.

"Jack…. um, I hate to tell you this, but there is no boat," he said sadly.

"Yes there is! I can see it right now!" I said. I turned and looked in the direction of our rescuers, but instead saw the empty, glassy sea. I gasped.

"I'm so sorry. It must have been the heat," said Simon, putting his hand on my arm. I kept staring, but there was nothing on the horizon. It was like someone had just punched me in the gut.

"I…. it was…. How…" I muttered, probably making myself seem crazier. Simon shook his head.

"It's your turn to lie down anyways. Here, give me the paddle, I'll take over for the next few hours," he said, reaching over me as I stared at the horizon incoherently. How could this have happened? Why was my mind playing such dirty tricks on me?

Simon hefted the paddle into the water and began to row, completely ignoring the fact I was still watching the horizon. After a few minutes, I finally looked away, my stomach churning with a mixture of hunger and disgust.

SIMON'S POV

I fell back onto the raft, dropping the paddle beside me. I felt as if I had been run over by a truck six times, set on fire twice, and drunk three bottles of poison. Okay, maybe not, but at that moment I was experiencing more pain and exhaustion than I ever had before. Paddling was _not_ an easy feat when dehydrated and starving.

"Why'd we stop?" asked Jack, sending prickles of annoyance up my spine. I had only been rowing for two hours, which was nothing compared to his four, but I was completely drained of energy.

"Shut up," I said.

"What's wrong?" Jack asked, sitting up. His concern only made me more aggravated, but I tried to take deep breathes and calm down.

"Nothing," I said, attempting to make my voice my even. _I need to be rational. Yes, I'm hot and tired, but I can't take it out on Jack _I thought. I pushed myself up, a shot of fire running through my arm. Sweat dripped down the side of my face, but I made no attempt to push it away.

Jack crawled over to my side of the raft and sat down beside me, flexing his ankles out in front of him. It was difficult not to get cramps when sitting in a raft all day, but stretching usually helped at least a little.

"I'll take over next," Jack offered, his voice strained as to sound chipper.

"I'm so sorry," I said, because I didn't know what else to say. Guilt jumped about in my stomach, but there was nothing I could do to stop it because I could _not _make my muscles paddle that raft any longer. Jack shook his head.

"It's-"

"If you say 'it's fine', I will use the last of my energy to punch you in the face. Again," I said. This got Jack to chuckle. He pulled himself up and took the paddle in his hands, making a visible effort _not_ to seem exhausted.

"It's about noon now," he said, looking up at the sky "I guess we will take a break soon enough, I could try to catch a fish…." Jack's eyes glazed over and he began to focus on rowing. I watched his sunburned back as the raft moved little by little towards whatever impossible destination we had set for ourselves.

JACK'S POV

I forced myself into a painful pattern; _forward, pull, forward, pull, forward…. _

My arms would relax a little as I reached the paddle forward into the water in front of me, but it was the pulling back part that ripped at the muscles in my arm. It wasn't as bad as it could have been, though. I used to lift weights for football, and during that time I had a developed an odd outlet for handling pain. It didn't seem as odd on the raft that day, but in the past I used to be quite concerned by the fact that I would think of Simon every time I worked out. It was as if the pain that he provided was worse then the exercise, so it balanced out.

Anyways, as I moved the raft along little by little, I didn't have to go to the trouble of focusing on Simon since he was right there, talking to me out of boredom. Well, he was more talking _at_ me since I was too strained from paddling to reply to anything he said.

"…. And that is how I managed to leave a paint trail to my locker," said Simon with a laugh. I licked my dry lips and managed a weak smile. Simon shook his head.

"Yeah, school was pretty good. That was, except for…." Simon bit his lip and looked down. After a few seconds of silence, I set the paddle down on my lap and let the raft flow on its own.

"Except for what?" I said, my voice cracking. The mixture of not talking for a while and lack of water had turned my tongue into sandpaper.

"Well… Except for the bullies. Except for you," said Simon with a shrug. He looked up, his green eyes tired but still with a spark in them. "But that's different now. We have bigger things to worry about," he murmured. He sighed and flopped back onto the raft, looking towards the sky. It was quite again, but I left it and went back to rowing.

It had been at least an hour of silence before he said anything again. It was faint, so I had to stop rowing and turn around.

"What?" I said. Simon swallowed hard and sat up.

"I just…. I love you. That's all," whispered Simon hoarsely, tears brimming in his eyes. The sight of Simon's tears surprised me, so I pushed the paddle aside and crawled over to him.

"What's wrong?" I asked, resisting the temptation to curl up beside him and fall asleep. My muscles ached, my skin was itchy from the surf and the sun, and my throat was as dry as could be, but I still had to keep up my energy. I couldn't give in. Simon looked at me painfully.

"What isn't wrong? Jack, we are going to-" Before he could even finish his sentence, I leaned in and pushed my cracked lips against his. It wasn't comfortable due to the fact both of our lips were absolutely burnt and dried, but my heart still sped up and my head still spun. It was still beautiful.

When I pulled back, Simon's tears had receded, but he glared at me darkly.

"This is hardly a time for kissing," he grumbled.

"Well then stop talking like that. Simon, you can't give up yet. If you do, there is no way we can survive," I said. Simon squinted, his emotions unreadable.

"I… I'm just scared," he finally said.

"I am too. But it's exactly that reason why I won't give up," I paused and smiled darkly "It's the reason I keep paddling this damn boat even though it's killing me."

"Do you want me to-"

"No."

"Jack-"

"I said no."

"Fine." Now there was another silence. I looked at the paddle, my worst enemy who lay on the annoyingly orange raft, and tried to tell my tired muscles to crawl over there. To pick it up. To start my Sisyphus worthy task all over again.

SIMON'S POV

The sun was at noon in the sky, so yellow it was almost white and rippling from the heat waves. The evil, evil sun stared down like an eye, watching as my body deteriorated slowly, sweating out the last of my energy. I felt like a raisin drying up in the sun.

_Water…. Water…. Water…. _I could barely think straight. I was going mad with lust for wonderful, cool, invigorating…. _water. _

"What's that?" asked Jack. It took me a second to realize I was mumbling nonsense to myself.

"Huh? Oh… n-nothing," I said. _It's around me, water, water is around me…. Wait. Salt water. Evil salt water… _I sighed.

It was silent except for the sound of Jack's slow paddling. I tried to sit up, but closed my eyes as I was hit with a wave a nausea, the edges of my vision turning black. I took deep breaths to the beat of the paddling, in and out as the paddle sliced into the water and moved up. Once the dizziness wore off a little, I tried once again to open my eyes despite the blinding sun. I titled my head away from the awful yellow light, staring down at the raft. Something dripped off me, red on the orange rubber.

_I'm…. bleeding? _I reached up and felt wetness beneath my nose. My heat zapped mind finally registered I was having a nosebleed. After croaking out a strangled "Jack", I found myself leaning over the edge of the raft, my nose bleeding into the ocean.

I heard him muttering to me, but I didn't bother to respond.

"Uh, I can't remember, do you tilt your head _forward_ or backward?" Jack sighed "How are you feeling? Are you feeling dizzy?"

"No," I responded. Actually I felt quite dizzy, but no more than usual.

"Well, that's good…. I'm sure it's just from all of the dryness, what from the sun and all…. I'll keep rowing, you just stay there, and if you are feeling like you are going to faint say something and lay down. Okay?" Jack said. I nodded the best I could.

The water beneath me swirled and the red droplets looked kind of cool falling into the dark blue. I started to play a game were I would guess where the blood would fall next, depending on how fast we were going and how heavily my nose was dripping. At last, the bleeding died down, and eventually stopped. I sat up slowly, fighting off yet another wave of nausea.

"Simon? How are you doing?" Jack asked, his back turned to me.

"Fine. I stopped bleeding," I said. Jack turned around and scanned me over. He nodded quickly and turned back to rowing. _Way to show concern _I thought sarcastically. I couldn't help but smile, wondering if the nose bleed had helped clear my mind.

As I wiped the caked blood off my nose, Jack threw the paddle down and leaned over the side of the raft. For a second, I thought that maybe he had gotten a nose bleed too, but than I heard a retching sound. _Oh great_. I peered up at the sun, my heart feeling like it weighed a thousand pounds.

Jack sat up and wiped his mouth with the tattered blazer next to him. He set his head between his knees and didn't move.

"Was it the blood?" I asked. Jack shook his head, seeming too worn out to do much else. I didn't press further. I reached over and took the paddle next to him. Jack seemed to muster up all of his energy to lift his head and look at me.

"No," he said, reaching towards the paddle lamely "I'll…"

"No way. You're exhausted. Go under the tarp and escape the sun. I'll go," I said. Jack stared at me for a second in defiance, before succumbing and crawling under the tarp.

Even though I knew Jack was just under the tarp, I felt a rush of loneliness. The water around me was flat, the sun and the sky were flat, and all that was left was me, a raft, and a paddle. So there was only one thing to do.

I paddled.

JACK'S POV

When I woke up, the sun was starting to go down and the raft had stopped. I crawled out and welcomed the cool air, wishing I had cool water instead. _Water….._

Simon lay down, flat on his back, his eyes closed. He was breathing heavily so I figured he had just stopped rowing a little while ago. Peering over the edge of the raft I found we were on a sandbank quite similar to the one we had landed on. A few feet away there was a dark mass under the water which appeared to be a reef of some sort. I got out and attached the rope to the dirty brown reef, feeling it was the perfect spot for camp.

Once I got back into the raft I saw Simon was leaning over the side again, having another nose bleed.

"I'm fine. I feel fine," he said once I leaned over him worriedly. We both knew this wasn't true, but the fact that he could muster up the energy to talk calmed me a little. I left him alone and decided to go fishing.

Although every fiber of my body screamed for me to lie down and go back to sleep, the prospect of fish and more importantly, watery fish eyes, made me stomach growl. I jumped into the lukewarm murky water and tried to ignore my throbbing headache. After only a few minutes, the excitement at the prospect of food began to dwindle, seeing as the water was too murky and dark to see anything. But my mind was fried by the sun and I was too desperate to do anything other than stand there, my sun burnt arms out in front of me, waiting for a fish that wouldn't appear. The water went from pale blue, to yellow, to brilliant orange, and then the corners of the sky were turning dark blue. I was about to go back to the raft and call it quits, when I felt something brush my leg. A shot of hope ran through me and I slowly lowered myself closer to the water.

The minutes turned to hours as I waited, heart thumping, for the perfect time to strike. The pressure of getting food to survive was on my shoulders, but I pushed it away. All that was left in the world was this fish and I. My mind was cleared and I was ready for anything.

Anything, except for the fish to attack _me_.

I knew something was up when the water began to swirl in circles around my thighs. Out of the corner of my eye I saw a fin poke up out of the water, but my mind was running too slow and I didn't move in time. Before I knew it, something had clamped down on my leg.

Pain shot through me like lightening and I collapsed, breathing in salt water. The shark pulled me down, but the adrenaline rush gave me enough energy to kick it with my left foot, right on the snout. It let me go and I surfaced, coughing and sputtering. In the back of my mind, I registered screaming coming from Simon on the raft.

The shark turned back to me and I began splashing through the water to the raft as fast as I could, but my leg was failing and I kept dunking under. The water was clouded with my blood. Everything seemed so unreal, if it hadn't been for the searing pain I would have thought I was in a dream. The last thing I saw before I was pulled under again was the dark, almost dead eyes of a massive 20 foot shark.

The shark went for my right leg again, its grip tightening on my lower calf. It was like hundreds of needles were sinking into my skin at the same time as this huge force flung me around like a rag doll. Every time I surfaced I saw its back, which was bigger than our raft and gray with faded lines. I hit at its head with all of my strength, but my aim was completely off as I was flung from side to side. I tried for the gills. The shark instantly released me and abruptly turned away, almost hitting me with its tail.

I staggered up to the raft, the pain so bad I could barely breath. Hands pulled me up and I fell in, my head reeling like I was going to pass out. Seeing Simon bend over me, muttering something that made no sense, was like a smack of reality. Two worlds meeting. I lifted my head and a blood soaked, shredded thing was lying on the raft. It was attached to me. _Oh, right, that's my leg. _

SIMON'S POV

My tears were mixing with his blood as I desperately leaned all of my weight onto Jack's leg. _This can't be happening!_

"Jack, Jack, stay with me!" I pleaded, looking over at his heaving chest. Jack was breathing way too fast, the blood was spilling out way too fast, all of this was happening way too fast! I saw several smaller fins poking out of the water, playing in the blood, and it made my stomach churn. I was going to throw up or pass out. I couldn't handle it, my whole body was shaking.

I looked into Jack's blue eyes, hoping desperately the light wouldn't go out of them. I flashed to the cold eyes of the shark and shivered. I had been helpless, sitting on the raft, watching as that vicious shark mauled Jack. And now I was helpless again. There was nothing I could do to save the only person I had left in the world as he bled to death, right in front of me.

"Jack… please," I begged. That was all I could do; plead and hope. I fell onto his leg and sobbed.

"I love you so much. I'm so sorry," I cried, crawling over so I could look Jack in the eyes. Jack smiled crookedly.

"I love you too. Don't be sorry, I'm fi- I'll be alright," Jack said. I went back and leaned on his wound again, my heart heavy enough to sink the raft. Soon I was back to crying, curling up into a pitiful ball as I watched the blood pool up next to me in the dwindling light.

_I've failed, its all over now. Nothing is going to save us. Nothing I do will save Jack. _Another serge of tears came. For a second it was as if I had taken a step out of my body and was watching the whole scene from a different perspective. Disgust ran through me at the sight of me clutching my side, in pain even though _I_ wasn't the one who had been bitten by a shark.

But things changed quickly. And as quick as the shark had came it had left. Then one minute I was listening only to the sound of my sobs, and the next, to a sound that was foreign yet familiar. The beating sound of something other then my pounding headache or racing heart.

The sound of a chopper in the sky.

Through my tears I saw a black dot in the sky, easily making its way diagonal of us. I realized it wasn't heading in our direction, but it was still _there_.

I used the last of my energy to stand up, my senses awake and my tears retreating. I opened my mouth, ready to scream more then I had ever screamed before.

But then the edges of the world started to turn black. My knees weakened beneath me and I could feel myself start to fall into one of my spells. _No, not now!_

I fell on my hands and knees, but right as my head started to spin, something came over me. The numb feeling was being pushed away by something more powerful- something that made my heart feel warmer then Jack's kisses, that made my arms feel stronger then a day of no paddling, something that I could not deny.

And that something was the will to live.

_Breath in, breath out, breath in, breath out. _I stood up, ignoring the sun in my eyes, the ache in my heart, the dizziness in my head, and the weakness of my knees. I _could _save Jack and I was going to keep fighting until the end if I had to.

JACK'S POV

A white light. How cliché. It wasn't warm like everyone said it was, it wasn't inviting, and honestly, it was annoying my eyes. And since when was Heaven so noisy?

"_He's dehydrated like the other, get some tubes in his arms now!"_

But soon the white light disappeared. Had I just closed my eyes? Had I died? Had it suddenly become night?

And then the light was back, but this time it was yellow. Okay, _now_ I was sure it was Heaven. Right?

"_Get those scumbags off the front lawn." _And the yellow light disappeared.

At last, I opened my eyes. Once again, I saw a light, but this was a real light fixture. A buzzing, white rectangle looked down on me. But there was another noise accompanying the rectangle. _Beep, beep, beep…._

Again with the clichés. I looked over and saw I was hooked up to a heart monitor, lying in bed. Tubes lined my arms and the curtains were shut.

I didn't even bother to recount what had led me to the hospital room. Even though that would have been the normal reaction, I already had a throbbing headache and was not in the mood to deal with any complications. Instead I closed my eyes and fell asleep.

The second time I woke up, a nurse was standing above me. He jumped back as I opened my eyes.

"Uh, hi," I said in a raspy voice. The nurse turned and ran out of the room, yelling down the hallway. I expected a bunch of people to come running in the room with open arms, ready to tell me about whatever had happened, but unfortunately the only response was a random voice in the hallway saying "Shut up, you'll alert the press!"

A few minutes later, a bunch of doctors came in and fussed over me for the next half hour, treating the nasty wound on my leg that hurt like hell. After that they shot me with a bunch of drugs and I was knocked out again.

The next time I surfaced to consciousness it was night time, but I was unsure how many days had passed. I sat up in bed and looked around the sterile white room. To one side was the window which had been opened at some point and the other side was a curtain that divided the room in half. I was shocked to find the walls lined with baskets and flowers, since I didn't think that many people cared about me. That was, until I noticed one basket had a news logo on it.

So many questions flooded my mind. Where was I? What happened to my leg? Why did the news care so much?

The drugs hadn't completely worn off so I was too woozy to focus and my mind kept wandering. Soon, a more important question found its way onto my list.

Where the hell was the TV remote?

So there I was, yanking out all of the tubes in my arm and reaching to a nearby wheelchair from my bed, all while loopy on hospital drugs and madly searching for a television remote.

During my mad search, I heard voice from behind the curtain muttering something. At first I thought whoever it was had woken up, but soon realized they were sleep talking.

"Find the… above the…. Water…. I luh…" I reached over and pulled back the curtain. Connected to tubes just like I had been and snuggled down amongst the pillows was the last person I expected to see- Simon Chesler.

That was the moment it all came back to me: the crash, the raft, our kiss, our exile, the water lust, and the shark. Thinking about it all made me feel older somehow and more tired too. I looked down at my leg, truly examining the bandages for the first time; my right leg was missing a large part of my lower calf. I was shocked I hadn't even noticed before.

But more importantly I watched Simon. I must have sat there forever, just watching his small chest rise and fall. His eyelids fluttered slightly and he was calmer than I had ever seen him my entire life. I wheeled myself over so I was right beside him and kissed his forehead.

Simon's eyes opened slowly, looking straight at me as he awoke. Once he got over his initial confused glare, I saw the realization touch his face and it was quiet as we both watched each other in awe. At last, Simon cleared his throat.

"Hi Jack."

**Author's Note: I just want to say, thank you for the amazing feedback and for all around just being wonderful readers! This was my first ever chapter-fan fiction and I am amazed I was able to finish it. I couldn't have done it without all of the great support. There is one chapter left now, and no I am not writing a sequel. But soon, I will be attempting to write a 3rd**** person Ralph/Jack story (I know, completely diff from what I usually do!) over the summer. Anyways, reviews are always appreciated. Thanks!**


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